


Auburn and Gold

by AureliaAstralis



Series: Auburn and Gold [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Do-over fic, Gen, Izanami-no-Kami as Goddess of Death, Second Chances, Slow Build, Tenten gets the spotlight!AU, Tenten-centric, Third Shinobi World War (Naruto), Time Travel, religious!Tenten, set 18 years before Naruto canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-25 17:39:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/641363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AureliaAstralis/pseuds/AureliaAstralis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Chunin kunoichi from Konoha dies from elemental chakra poisoning during the Fourth Shinobi World War, only to be given a opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to change everything. Time Travel, AU, Tenten-centric</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: In Death

Dying is less painful than she had expected.

Unlike what the stories said or other people claimed, her life doesn't flash before her eyes. The only thing she can see with her blurring vision is the open sky, curiously blue and cloudless for a day where blood had been spilled from even before dawn. She tries to recall what had happened; blue-green chakra, elemental wind chakra and healing chakra.

Deadly chakra.

She had been fighting someone who used a perverse version chakra scalpels, somehow managing to channel both wind and healing chakra together in a deadly combination. If the healing chakra didn't manage to incapacitate, the pure wind chakra would finish the job. Entering and flooding her chakra vessels directly through the scalpel's incision, the wind chakra would overwhelm her own lightning-natured chakra, shredding her organs apart and killing her painfully but quickly.

The dull, searing ache of the foreign chakra working its way towards her heart is nothing compared the fierce burn of her lower organs being destroyed, but she steels herself to ignore both pains. After completing the interrogation training she was subjected to upon her promotion to Chunin, she could withstand pain with the best of them, and for that she is grateful. For countless months she cursed Yamanaka Inoichi and Morino Ibiki for their thoroughness in introducing her to the most painful aspects of mental and physical torture, breaking her genin persona and remaking her into a formidable chunin kunoichi, but at this very moment she would be thanking them endlessly instead. Not that she'd ever get the chance, unless they didn't make it through this war alive.

Although her death through battle would be no surprise considering the events and circumstances of the Fourth Shinobi World War, she knows it would come as a lowering blow to Konoha's morale. She isn't so arrogant or self-important to believe in her own value, but she knows what she stands for within the Konoha ninja ranks: the generation of talented, fate-changing Leaf nins crowned Konoha's Eleven. For her to die, when the eleven of them had withstood and survived thus far, it would either break her friends or shape them. She fervently hopes it would be the latter.

She hates to think of her two teammates and her sensei, knowing they would blame themselves for her death. Their insistence in protecting her had lessened considerably since her genin days, but she knows that they had only resorted to subtler methods. Little things, like draping her in the unused blanket when one of them took watch, or placing her in the middle of their formation, as if she were a client they needed to protect. She had noticed but didn't say anything, letting her team think she is oblivious. She wouldn't ever admit it, but it makes her feel loved, a feeling she has craved for her entire life. Their love is her protection, however subtle it was, and as her skills as a kunoichi became known, they protected her even as they rose into infamy as formidable shinobi themselves.

Her own notoriety came more through association with her team and the Konoha Eleven than her personal skills, but it is powerful nonetheless. That association places her in the one of the precarious positions of carrying Konoha's future, and paints a target on her back that she would carry for the rest of her life.

Or what few minutes she has left of it.

She tells herself if could've been worse; at least her death would be quick and relatively painless. There are worse things than dying, especially for a kunoichi of her age and position. Though Kami-forbid if she had been left bleeding painfully and slowly, counting down to the moment when Death would finally be merciful. She would rather take herself out of her misery with her own chokuto, stabbing herself in the heart.

Her last breaths are smooth and slow and steady, the now excruciating pain locked and tucked away in the back of her mind. She ignores the feeling of the wind chakra attacking her heart, blocking out the sounds of the battle waging mere paces from where she lies. She closes her eyes, and could just  _barely_  pretend that she is falling asleep on her bed at home in the village, the sounds of yelling and fighting fading into the familiar noises of her teammates' morning spars.

In the light of the late afternoon, the Chunin kunoichi of Konohagakure known as Tenten slips into Death's waiting arms with a smile on her face.

* * *

**"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace."** \- Oscar Wilde, _The Canterville Ghost_

* * *

 


	2. Arc I, Childhood: In Dreams

When her head breaks the surface of the water, she takes a ragged, desperate breath, her entire body burning as if on fire. A few more breaths of the unusually clean, sweet air brings her attention to her surroundings.

_You are dead_ , a vicious part of her mind whispers,  _you are dead_.

"Am I really?" The tiny, little voice that comes from her throat surprises her. Channeling chakra to the soles of her feet, she climbs out of the water to stand on the mirror-like surface, starting at the visage staring back at her when she looks down. The same buns, the same eyes, but a young face, too young for someone like her. It is a face that holds purity and ignorance under its skin, eyes brimming with age and regrets marring youthful innocence.

"Unusual," a low, throaty voice purrs.

Head snapping up, her vision is flooded with silk and gossamer fabric, embroidered with perfect stitching and delicate patterns she recognizes only the wealthiest can afford. Following the length of the kimono past the obi, long ebony hair replaces resplendent cloth, leading to a face that she can only describe as both terrible and beautiful.

"Never before has one broken from Shi-no-Umi," the woman speaks again, this time a hint of curiosity in her voice. "You are the first since the creation of your world, child."

Tenten is startled at the address, but bows her head in deference of what must be a divine being. "I don't know how..."

Red-painted lips curl into a smile, and tall woman bends down to cup Tenten's cheek with hands adorned with jewels and lacquered nails. Fathomless dark eyes meet widened brown ones, and Tenten inhales sharply in recognition.

"Izanami-no-Kami," she breathes, dropping to her knees instantly. While others during her lifetime had forgotten about stories of the gods that gifted the Rikudo Sennin with his wisdom and knowledge, she devoured those myths with a fervor that matched her weapons training. Others had their families growing up, but she had nothing but the gods and goddesses, whom she had worshipped in hopes of a bright future for herself.

And now, the Goddess of Creation and Death stands before her.

A melodic laugh wraps around her like a blanket, and Tenten looks up to see happiness painted on the goddess's face. "You show much respect for me," she murmurs, placing a hand on the crown of Tenten's head. "Especially when your world has chosen to forsake us... yes, you are unusual, child."

Tenten looks down again, shocked when the reflecting surface of the water ripples into nothingness, giving her a clear view into the depths of Shi-no-Umi. At the bottom of the sea lies hundreds, thousands, if not millions of bodies, humans and creatures alike. Ninja, civilians, and dignitaries lie peacefully amongst dogs, foxes, and birds, and an empty spot catches her eye. The space is surrounded by figures she recognizes as Konoha ninja, she swallows as she realizes exactly where the Sea of Death received its name.

"Will you send me back?" A spark of self-directed anger in her belly dances at the submissive fear flooding her soul, but it is overwhelmed by the plea that resonates through her soul.  _I don't want to die again._

"I have forgotten how interesting you humans can be," the goddess replies in amusement. "And you are different from the rest to break free from my eternal sleep."

Tenten can't hide how her hands tremble when the goddess reaches for them and holds them tightly.

"No, child, you shall not return to the depths of my realm," Izanami-no-Kami hums, releasing one hand to tuck a wayward lock of hair behind Tenten's ear in an oddly motherly gesture. It brings Tenten back to the days of her lonely childhood, when she would pretend the Izanagi-no-Mikoto was her father and his wife her mother. An errant tear slips from her eye, and is quickly wiped away by the goddess's fingers.

"Do not cry, musume," the goddess whispers, pulling Tenten's child-like body into her embrace. And despite the fear she feels, Tenten can't help herself when she wraps her thin arms around the woman's waist and clenches the bow of the obi with desperate, lonely hands.

"Okaa-san..."

"Do not cry," Izanami-no-Kami says again, stroking Tenten's head. Sinking to her knees, the goddess meets Tenten's tearful gaze with a serene smile.

"You are the first of my children to ascend into the realm of Yahiro-dono, musume, and for your devotion I shall grant you a gift." The goddess bends forward and touches her lips to the center of Tenten's forehead. The moment she pulls away, Tenten's vision swims as her head spins, falling unconscious into the kami's arms.

* * *

Izanami-no-Kami looks at the fading mark upon her daughter's brow, smiling down at the child in pity.

"For every gift given there must be one exchanged, musume," she murmurs, caressing the soft skin of the child's cheek. "I am sorry."

Whispering a spell, the goddess watches as the child's body slowly fades into dust, the little particles floating on a breeze into the far east.

"My prayers travel with you, my dear daughter." And with that, the mighty goddess continues her walk above the endless sea, gliding gracefully above the water.

Within moments, she can be seen no longer, and the ripples left in Shi-no-Umi by the child's awakening are quickly smoothed back into mirror-like, flat glass.

* * *

**"After all, to the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."**  - J. K. Rowling,  _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shi-no-Umi: literally "Sea of Death," a imagined realm where Izanami-no-Kami watches over the dead as they lay in eternal sleep.
> 
> Izanami-no-Kami: literally "She Who Invites You," the Japanese deity of creation and death who is wife to Izanagi-no-Mikoto.
> 
> Izanagi-no-Mikoto: literally "He Who Invites You," the Japanese deity who is husband to Izanami-no-Kami and fathered the gods Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susanoo.
> 
> Musume: literally "daughter."
> 
> Okaa-san: formal address for "mother."
> 
> Yahiro-dono: literally "Eight Hiro Palace," the palace of Izanami-no-Kami and Izanagi-no-Mikoto.


	3. Arc I, Childhood: In Dread

When Tenten wakes up, her eyes are greeted with the familiar sight of a mattress depressed into the bunk bed frame above her, and cannot remember the last time she felt so full of energy, so full of life.

The blessed words of the goddess ring through her head like a tolling bell, and she smiles with anticipation and excitement and hope, bounding to the closet in quiet, light laughter. Gazing at the mirror in trepidation, she makes faces if only to make sure that she is still Tenten. Her copy mimics her actions down to the monkey face she makes, the hair she twists into her trademark buns, and the deliriously happy smile that pulls at her lips.

She doesn't pay attention to what she chooses to wear, because Tenten is more interested in hurrying outside to see the village she knows and loves, the one she never returned to in her past life. She doesn't even mind when she has to adjust her reach, overstepping and stumbling as she walks with short legs remembering a longer stride.  _Home, I'm home!_

She does not notice the undamaged state of the furniture, nor the clean, whitewashed walls that she passes with quiet, chakra-suppressed steps. Tenten only rushes past the matron of the orphanage, chirping out a cheerful "Good morning!" to the woman. She snags an apple from a basket before disappearing through the door.

Shutting the door behind her, Tenten takes a bite of her apple and basks in the sun shining on her face, pushing away the odd tingling she felt upon seeing the old matron again. Perhaps her memory isn't as clear as it was prior to her death, but she could swear that the matron of her childhood orphanage had more than just hints of crow's feet at the eyes and laugh lines at her lips. But she shakes away her thoughts and grins when she sees shinobi jumping across the rooftops and civilians in the streets.

 _I'll make things better this time_ , she vows as walks through the streets, her heart twisting in remorse and nostalgia,  _I'll protect you all_.

* * *

It takes her a few hours to notice that there's something peculiar about the village she loves. A clothing shop where her favorite sushi restaurant is supposed to be, an empty lot instead of her preferred grocery, a weapons shop she hasn't seen before when she knew the location of  _every single one_  within the village walls by heart.

And as Tenten knows most of the ninja between the ranks of Chunin and Jonin from her old life, she expects to meet familiar, albeit younger faces, but fails to recognize a single one. Even stopping by the Ninja Academy gives her nothing, and as she waits until classes end so she can scan the childish faces for comrades and friends she is met with disappointment.

Her only gain is that she sees familiar yet unfamiliar faces, ones she can recognize and name as adults arrive to fetch their younger clan counterparts.  _Hyuuga, Nara, Yamanaka. Aburame, Inuzuka... Uchiha_.

The last one troubles Tenten and makes her more than a little suspicious, until she calms herself enough to remember that the traitorous clan was murdered when she was.. six? _Maybe?_ She's not exactly sure how far back she's gone but she is positive she was taller when Sasuke left the Academy one day as fire and came back two weeks later as ice.

And so she breathes a little easier, hoping nobody noticed the spike in her chakra when she saw the pair of black-haired women hugging black-haired children, red and white fans splashing across the backs of their yukata and training shirts like painted targets.

She is too relieved and still disoriented from seeing her village whole that she misses the spiky-haired man watching her wander away, watching until a woman grabs his arm and drags him away with a teenaged boy in tow.

* * *

Her wandering is interrupted by the smell of food, one so familiar to her that it makes her heart ache. Memories of her friends, of her team, of  _Naruto and Lee_  flood her mind, and she follows the scent of miso ramen with the nose of a bloodhound and the desperation of a starving man.

The little ramen stand looks the same as it did when she visited it last, her final meal before marching out of the village gates into death and war. Ducking under bright red flags, she is met with a warm greeting, cheerful and boisterous as it soars over the heads of patrons hunched over ramen bowls.

"Welcome to Ramen Ichiraku! What can I get for you, young lady?"

She savours the familiar voice of Ichiraku Teuchi, heart lifting at the discovery of at least one person from her past life. Her affection for this old man is due wholly to Naruto, who introduced her to the man that she came to see as a kindred soul and surrogate father. Tenten bites back her tears when memories of Naruto, Lee, and herself resurface, of nights when the aging chef only understood and listened as three lonely orphans shared more than just warm food and drink.

Tenten makes her choice, paying tribute to Naruto and Lee by choosing the same ramen the three of them always ordered on those nights. She looks up with a slightly melancholy smile and says, "Miso ramen plea-"

* * *

Being the owner of a cheap ramen bar gives Ichiraku Teuchi a wide range of customers, more often of the ninja variety than the civilian one. In his years of operating the small stand, he has seen more than enough Genin and Chunin lose their innocence, leaving his stand with cheerful smiles but returning with a haunted look bellying tragedy.

Teuchi may not be a ninja, but he has seen enough ninja sit at his bar, reliving memories in bowls of hot noodles that he recognizes trauma and grief when he sees it.

When he watches the same, haunted look take over the young girl's eyes, he cannot help but pity her. Unsurprising, but only because it has happened more than once but too often for Teuchi's tastes. His demeanor tends to be more fatherly than what is normally acceptable for a mere chef, and it has the unfortunate tendency to trigger bad memories for some of his clients.

He knows this, and so lets the little girl run, a tiny thing with chocolate hair and tearing eyes. He turns back to his ramen pot, but looks over his shoulder again to glimpse the girl disappear around the corner, mulling over the emotions he saw in her eyes.

In his entire life, he has never met a child with eyes so full of surprising grief and desperate longing. He does not know, but he will recognize the same look at some point in the future, painted on the faces of adults and children, ninja and civilian alike.

* * *

Tenten runs, and runs, and  _runs_ , until she cannot run any more.

It isn't so much the shock of seeing  _Teuchi_  that prompts her to flee, but shock of  _seeing_  him, though both make her heart lurch in something she can't name. The Ichiraku Teuchi she saw is like the one she remembers, down to the smile that graces his tanned face and the crew cut that is hidden under a chef's hat.

It fills her with regret and remorse, for the promise she made to return to her village victorious and celebrate with a bowl of miso ramen. It is an unfulfilled promise, and the fact that Tenten had to break that particular one hurts all the more because she can imagine the same smile and squinted eyes dancing on the expression of the old Teuchi she knew from her past life.

 _He is not your Teuchi-jii-san_ , she tells herself harshly.  _He isn't the same_. But it is still hard for her to accept that when he's there, the same as she remembers but at the same time, completely different.

This time she knows exactly what is wrong, and when her feet carry her to the base of the Hokage monument she stares up at the faces until she wraps her head around the inevitable truth.

Tenten should have noticed earlier, but she was too distracted with being alive and the village being whole, and she berates herself because she could have,  _should have_  seen it sooner. She is an eighteen year old kunoichi, for Izanami-no-Kami's sake, not some untrained girl.

She starts when a throaty murmur fills her head, making her head pound and spin as she collapses to the ground in tears.

 ** _For every gift given there must be one exchanged, musume,_**  the goddess's voice whispers.  ** _I am sorry._**

Tenten stares up at the three giant faces looming over her, as great and terrible as the goddess that sent her here, and she weeps as she realizes the price of the goddess's gift, because an opportunity this big  _has_  to have a consequence of equal value.

She just wishes the price wasn't her family, most of whom wouldn't be born for another eighteen years.

* * *

 **"There is no opportunity that comes without consequence."**  - Unknown


	4. Arc I, Childhood: To Begin

When Tenten wakes in unfamiliar arms, she cannot fight the urge to reach for hidden weapons to throw at the masked ninja. The purpose of instinctual action is lost however, when her hands cannot feel a kunai pouch at her hip or senbon needles in her sleeves. All she achieves is being nearly dropped in surprise, but she relaxes because in the mistake allows the moonlight to shine on the ANBU armor and mask her captor wears.

"Sparrow-san?"

"Where do you live little one?" The voice is both toneless and low, but Tenten can tell by the chest she is cradled towards that the ninja is a woman, and relaxes just a little more.

"The orphanage, Ninja-sama." She doesn't have to pretend to be tired, and thanks the gods for small favors. All she wants is to burrow in her comforter and pretend she is  _not here_. "Did Nono-san send you to look for me?"

"No." The ANBU says nothing more, but Tenten doesn't even notice because she lets her exhaustion take over and succumbs to a dreamless yet fitful sleep.

* * *

The next time she wakes, it is late afternoon and her room is empty.

She dresses with considerably less enthusiasm than yesterday, and slips out the window quietly onto an awning covering the orphanage's back patio. She takes a tentative step on the wall next to her window, testing her chakra, but frowns when she cannot generate enough to take even one, meager step.

Her compromise is to slide down the drain pipe, landing with no sound as she sneaks around the side of the house and into the streets.

Again, like yesterday, she wanders, the small, sliver of hope that grew during her slumber dying bit by bit as she is forced to accept the truth she thought, believed,  _hoped to the goddess herself_  was a product of delusion and delirium.

She notices the Uchiha patrolling the streets, the sheer number of them larger than she had ever seen before as she sees Sharingan eyes nearly everywhere. She passes the hot springs, watching a group of irate kunoichi leaving behind a severely injured, but clearly younger white-haired Sannin moaning in pain. She approaches the store that sold her the very first kunai set she ever owned, only to stop when she recognizes the young teenager sweeping the doorstep as the crippled shop owner that helped her choose her kodachi and sais.

She watches, and her hope dwindles like a dying candle with every piece of evidence she finds.

She visits the Memorial Stone that is missing hundreds of names, expecting to see Kakashi but finding the place deserted from all but wilting flowers. She sneaks around the Hyuuga compound and peers through a crack in the wall, her heart plummeting when she finds two identical male Hyuuga teens sparring instead of two Hyuuga cousins, one male and one female. She wanders to the Academy again, watching from the trees as a boy - who looks  _so_  very much like Shikamaru but so very  _not_  - is berated by a teacher, a ponytailed blonde who  _should_  be female and a chubby redhead who  _should_  be a brunette flanking him on either side.

Her last stop is her old training grounds, surrounded by dense forest and shaded from the harsh summer sun, and the last thing Tenten expects is to find someone training, someone who doesn't have thick black eyebrows or cold pearl eyes or brown buns. She doesn't expect to see a boy topped with a shock of spiky blonde running through katas, and can only stagger away gracelessly with her heart crying out, Naruto, Naruto,  _Naruto_.

" _Not_  Sasuke,  _not_  Jiraiya-sama," she whispers, saying the names like a mantra. " _Not_  Neji,  _not_  Hinata,  _not_  Shikamaru,  _not_  Ino,  _not_ Chouji,  _not_  Naruto,  _not Naruto_ ,  ** _not Naruto_**..."

Of course, she knows who the blonde is and who he will become, but it is just  _too damn easy_  to connect the scrawny boy to  _her_ boisterous, ramen-loving Jinchuuriki, instead of the imposing face that looked over her village between a Sarutobi and a Senju.

 _No_ , she reminds herself bitterly,  _it is not **your**  village. Not the one you knew and loved._

And seeing all the differences make it all too easy to believe it.

* * *

"Education level?" The ninja doesn't even look at her when she stops in front of the desk.

"I can read, write, and do basic math." Her voice comes out in a squeak and her cheeks flush in embarrassment, but it makes the man look up. "I found my charka too." She hates pretending, but she is a child and must act like one.

"You mean chakra." Small eyes blink at her, scanning Tenten's small body before asking, "How old are you?"

"Seven." She is aware the age requirement is six unless under special circumstances, and she is not willing to show her knowledge until she is sure it is safe. Tenten has no inclination towards the life of a prodigy, but that doesn't mean she's willing to waste a year on the bare basics. "Nono-san says I've always been small for my age."

 _Orphan_. The word, though unspoken, passes from Tenten to the man, and there is nothing more that needs to be said about it.

"This is not a game, little girl." The sigh that follows the tired, weary words makes it clear they aren't meant to be patronizing, but cautioning instead. "We're on the brink of war. We need every able bodied ninja out there, which means that once you sign up-"

"You're a soldier until you die," she interrupts in a soft voice but curses herself for forgetting she is supposed to be a civilian and is not supposed to know these things. Making up a lie to hide her blunder, she continues, "I know. Sparrow-san said told me." She is well aware that orphans are no more than cannon fodder during wartime, and she knows that she will be more than that.  _You will fight until your death._

"Yes." The man, whose face is horribly disfigured on one side and perfectly untouched on the other, pins her down with a stern, assessing gaze. "Are you prepared for that?"

Standing in front of the Chunin manning the administrative desk, Tenten bites her lip as she thinks hard about the ninja's words.

 _Are you willing to sign your life away?_  Tenten thinks back to the times when she had wished for a life free of murder, of death, of blood. She thinks back to the times when she had seen civilian teens smiling and gossiping together, skin unmarked from weaponry scars and chakra burns. She thinks back to their helpless screams and tearful worries, their desperation in trying to do something _, anything_  instead of sitting and waiting with dying hope.

She doesn't think she can live with herself if she chooses civilian life, not while knowing she can make a difference.

If she had landed at any other time, in any other place, she just might've chosen to not be a ninja. There were other things she could do, things she didn't have to be a ninja to do... operating a weapons shop, babysitting ninja clan children, opening an architectural construction office, even managing a small bar.

Of course, her shop would only sell to those whose currencies weren't of gold or silver or ryo, but rather classified intelligence and blackmail material.

Babysitting young, impressionable children would only give her influence over their future, securing their loyalty towards her person and becoming valuable sources of dirt, of the figurative kind of course.

Her design business would specialize in security seals secretly doubled as sensitized recorders, funneling hidden conversations back to her to comb through painstakingly.

Her bar would cater only towards ninja, ninja who would blurt out drunken, hidden truths and ninja who were willing to trade information for information.

It would be impossible for her to achieve any civilian cover, for reasons that included her age, her orphaned status, and the war looming over Konoha's back. She knows that her only true option is that path filled with murder, death, and blood, and so makes her choice.

She nods, and the Chunin pulls out the Ninja Academy enrollment forms with a thin, strained smile.

"Name?"

At this, she pauses. Tenten has never heard of a time traveler before, and so doesn't know if there are any rules for this sort of paradox. Would she die upon her counterpart's death? Would her counterpart cease to exist entirely? Or would the gods compensate her absence with another?

She thinks, and decides. "Tenten." She isn't willing to give up the one thing her parents left her before dying. "Just Tenten."

He nods, and after minutes of scratching it is done. She signs on the line indicating applicant's name, marking the box labelled ' _Orphan_ ' next to her signature. She leaves the guardian signature line blank.

All it takes is a quick scan and a large red stamp, and with that the Chunin gets up to lead her to her classroom after filling her arms with Academy supplies.

* * *

The first time she signs the Academy enrollment forms, Tenten is six, signing her name with a flourish and a proclamation that she would become as legendary as Tsunade-sama herself. The Chunin manning the registration desk had chuckled and told her to work hard.

The second time she signs those forms, Tenten knows better. It is not a promise of fame and recognition, but rather a glorified death warrant that can be fulfilled at any time.

She has signed away her life twice now, but innocence can only be lost once.

And Tenten lost hers a long, long time ago.

* * *

She doesn't know what to expect when she is nudged into the room, but it certainly isn't  _this_.

There are many brands of chaos Tenten is used to, being friends with people like Gai and Lee, Naruto and Kiba, and Sakura and Ino. She has as much patience as Naruto has chakra, built up after years of prolonged exposure, but she had hoped such insanity wouldn't follow her here. It is a futile hope, but it brings her comfort to see that time hadn't changed one of the familiar things she remembers from  _her_  home.

The Chunin escorting her sighs, eyes darting around the room for the class teacher. Tenten is the one who finds him amidst the spitballs and pencils and paper shuriken flying through the air, tied up and hanging from the ceiling to hover next to the lecturing podium.

She notes the glue and paper covering the teacher's trussed up body, and mourns the utter lack of sophistication or originality. Naruto could had done better when he was five.

"Again, Toushi?"

"Shut up, Kenta. One of the little devils slipped sleeping pills into my coffee," the hanging man scowls. A quick jerk of the wrist and the ropes slacken enough for the man to escape. "I woke up less than three minutes ago."

"You're getting rusty," Kenta muses, before turning back to the chaos that still reined in the classroom. "OI! BACK TO YOUR SEATS, BRATS!"

At the low-ranked genjutsu Kenta performs, Tenten is brought back to her own Academy days with good old Iruka-sensei. She had thought her old teacher's 'Big-Head Jutsu' was one of Iruka's own creations, but perhaps it was an Academy teacher secret.

There is a minute of mad, frantic scrambling, and then utter, complete,  _blissful_  silence.

"Listen up," Kenta scowls, purposefully releasing a wave of killer intent into the air strong enough to make all the sitting children cower into their chairs. "This is the third time you maggots have done this. Your sensei is not a chicken to be trussed up and feathered. Do you understand me?" Tenten notes with amusement that Kenta ignores the dark look Toushi sends his way.

A low murmur is his reply, and Kenta's scowl deepens.

"I said,  _do you understand me?_ "

"Hai, Kenta-sensei!" comes the discordant, fearful chorus of responses.

"Good." He pushes Tenten out from her place behind him, and she fidgets at the number of eyes trained on her small form. "This is Tenten, and she'll be in your class from now on! And if I hear about bullying or anything similarly idiotic, your asses are mine.  _Are we clear?_ "

"Hai, Kenta-sensei!"

He nods, momentarily satisfied, then claps a firm hand on Tenten's shoulder. "Good luck, girlie," he mutters, and then stalks out of the classroom.

"Take a seat anywhere you'd like, Tenten-san," Toushi says, and she obligingly chooses a seat in the far back near the wall. She feels eyes following her, but they turn away soon enough when Toushi begins lecturing on hand seals and chakra theory.

Tenten pretends to be taking notes, but instead begins to plan. She plans to graduate on time, which gives her little more than five years to refine her skills and rebuild her chakra reserves. She makes plans, head filled with ways to improve her arsenal of skills as well as her speed and strength and stealth.

She is in the process of making a training schedule for herself when she is startled by the girl sitting beside her, sneaking peeks at her paper. "What're you waking up at six for, Tenten-san? The Academy doesn't start 'til nine-thirty!"

Tenten stares at the girl, the smudges of dirt on her face doing nothing to conceal the blood red tattoos streaking down her cheeks, and her eyes travel to the young puppy peeking out at her from inside the girl's jacket, and immediately knows.

"I'm sorry, who're you?" Tenten keeps the confusion on her face as her heart answers for her, blood pounding in her ears.  _Inuzuka Tsume, eagle spread red face red coat all red red red._ Tenten feels her expression wavering, and forces her tongue up to the roof of her mouth to suppress the urge to throw up. _Old Kuromaru, claws gone teeth gone eyes gone empty skin all gone gone-_

"Inuzuka Tsume," the girl grins, sharp canines glinting at Tenten in the fluorescent lights of the classroom. "And this here's Kuromaru." She adjusts her jacket, and the puppy preens for a moment before snuggling into Tsume's soft mesh shirt with a soft, contented yip.

"Hi." Tenten cannot help but smile, clenching her hands under the desk to hide her violently shaking hands. "Nice to meet you, Inuzuka-san, Kuromaru-san."

"Bah, it's just Tsume and Kuro. I'm nobody special," she grumbles, but Tenten notices the pleased smile on Tsume's face upon the address to Kuromaru. "But back to you, whatcha doin' up at six in the freaking morning?" Tsume peers down at Tenten's neat writing, "Stamina and speed training? "

"Laps, sets, reps, timed sprints, obstacle courses," Tenten says, reciting the drills by memory and feeling like she wouldn't mind being friends with Tsume. A traitorous, malicious part of her accuses her,  _just Kiba's replacement_ , but she ruthlessly squashes the voice and the guilt that wells up in her heart. "I hafta be strong."

"Me too!" Tsume grins. "I'm gonna be the strongest ninja in the Inuzuka clan! I'll beat that damn Kenshi-baka and become the first female Alpha ever!"

Tenten smiles knowingly and with an unnoticeable hint of sorrow says, "You're gonna be strong, Tsume-san. You'll be the clan leader one day, I know it."

* * *

Tsume blinks at the new girl, speechless.

It's the first time anyone has believed in her, the first time she hasn't been laughed at for her big dreams. Even her Ma and her Pa and Ginmaru think she's just trying get Kenshi-baka's attention because - and Tsume makes a face every time she thinks of this - she  _likes_  him.

 _Hah!_  As if Inuzuka Tsume would  _ever_  like that butthead of a baka.

But that isn't the point. The point is that this new girl says that Tsume'll be the Inuzuka clan leader as if this Tenten girl  _actually_ believes it.

She may only be seven - though her eighth birthday is coming soon - but Tsume is an Inuzuka through and through, and her nose can't be fooled. And her nose is telling her that Tenten really, truly, honest-to-Kami-sama-herself, believes in her.

Tenten's attention has already been drawn back to her notebook, and so Tsume quickly scoots back to where her things are and pretends to take notes of Toushi-sensei's boring lecture. She sneaks a look at Kuromaru in her jacket, and smiles to herself.

"Tenten-san's right, you know? We're gonna be the best, Kuro," Tsume whispers. "Just you wait."

* * *

Tsume leaves the Academy with Kuromaru that day wearing an ear-splitting grin and holding a lightness in her heart.

Tenten leaves the Academy as well, unaware that she has won the loyalty and friendship of a girl and a dog.

* * *

 **"Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it."**  - L. M. Montgomery,  _The Story Girl_


	5. Arc I, Childhood: To Bloom

Tenten has been in the Academy for six months, but by the end of the first week she already knows she is far ahead of anyone in the class, Toushi-sensei included. She spends her days in class alternating between doodling and sleeping, adopting a seemingly laid back attitude to hide her knowledge.

It doesn't work on Tsume though. The Inuzuka girl catches Tenten scribbling through homework assignments due two weeks later, and demands to know how she knows so much.

Tenten shrugs. "I read a lot. And I train a lot."

"You sleep in class every day!" Tsume sputters indignantly. "Ma and Pa make me read too, but my marks are worse than yours!"

Tenten believes Tsume's bad marks are due to her interest in physical training over a lack of intelligence, but doesn't say it. Instead, she makes Tsume an offer. "Why don't 'cha study with me? It can get real lonely by myself sometimes."

The Inuzuka girl accepts, with a reluctant sigh. "Alright. But don't expect anythin' special!"

* * *

Tsume comes to her first study session with low expectations, only to discover that Tenten's study methods are somewhat unorthodox.

"Wait, I thought you're helpin' me study chakra theory!" Tsume looks up at the tree looming over her. "What does climbin' trees have anything to do with that?" Kuromaru, standing in front of a tree of his own, barks in confusion as well.

"Lemme explain, Tsume-san," Tenten says, and Tsume's eyes bug out when the bun-haired girl walks up the tree trunk as if it were flat, horizontal ground.

" _WHOA-!_ "

" _Chakra_ ," Tenten stresses, and Tsume snaps her mouth shut. "Chakra is made by mixing the physical and spiritual energies of your body."

"How does it do that?" Tsume's voice is laced with doubt, and Tenten has to smile at the innocence of the question. Tenten still has trouble separating eight-year-old Tsume with late-twenties Tsume, but it is times like these that gently remind her they are not the same people.

"Our body does it by itself. Pretty cool, huh?" Tenten grins. "But its good 'cause to get more chakra, you gotta train your physical and spiritual energies too."

Tenten taps the bark beneath her feet. "Tree-walking trains you more in spiritual energy 'cause you can't just blast out all your chakra and make it work. You gotta practice usin' the exact amount o' chakra or else you'll just fall off."

"Alright! Let's do this Kuro!" Tsume cheers, backing up before sprinting at the tree as fast as she can go. Tenten suppresses a smile, and counts, one, two, three, four, five, before she reaches out to catch Tsume by her furry hood.

"Not bad for a first try," Tenten says, and Tsume beams. "But you gotta use less chakra. You hurt the tree, see?"

Sure enough, there are indentations and splintered bark from where Tsume's feet hit the tree, but the Inuzuka girl brushes away Tenten's concern. "Feh, it's just a tree, Tenten-san," she pouts.

"Maybe," Tenten jumps down to land lightly nest to Tsume. "But if you're on a mission an' you're climbin' trees, you don't wanna leave tracks right? Or else the enemy nin'll find you real quick."

Tsume's eyes widened in horror. "And then Konoha won't have the best tracking team ever!"

Tenten laughs at Tsume's panicked mutterings, and nods at the tree. "Don't run first, just put a foot on there and see how much chakra y'need to stick before the wood starts breakin' on you. And y'need to put a little chakra to your head, 'case you get dizzy from fightin' gravity."

"What's gravity?"

"The stuff that makes you fall and break your head."

"Ouch. Gotcha." Tsume shudders, before perking up. "What about Kuro?"

"Same thing," Tenten shrugs. "But he'll probably get up to the top faster than you 'cause you have more chakra than he does."

Kuromaru whines at this, but Tenten scratches behind his ears affectionately. "It'll build up your reserves, Kuro-san, so don't worry. You'll need it if you wanna start talkin' someday, right?"

Tsume's jaw drops, and Tenten is sure Kuromaru does something similar that must be the canine equivalent. "Kuro can  _talk_?" She spins around, grabbing Kuromaru by the scruff and shaking him. " _You can talk?_ "

She puts Kuromaru down after he only whines and barks a negative, making Tsume stare at Tenten accusingly.

"Well, he can't talk right  _now_ , but lotsa nin animals can." Tenten shrugs. "How d'you think summon animals talk? Sure, they gotta train their butts off, but if a nin animal gets enough chakra it can start talkin' like we do."

Tsume stares at her wordlessly for moments more, before turning to the tree with a newfound determination. "Let's do this Kuro!"

The dog barks in agreement, and Tenten watches with a twinge of pride as the pair makes it to the top of the tree by the end of the day.

* * *

It has been a year since she has come back to Konoha, but there are still things that surprise her in the new Konoha she is beginning to slowly see as home.

Tenten doesn't know what to think when she sees three boys bullying someone in the Academy playground during lunch. It is hidden in the shade of a tree and happens so discreetly that she doesn't notice it until a brown-haired girl stalks over, yelling and screaming at the trio.

"Let go of him, you big bully!" the girl yells, shoving a black-haired boy hard enough to make him stumble, to which the blonde boy pushes her back with a sneer.

"Go back to your dolls, squirt," comes the snarl, and though the effect is lost on the effeminate boy's face the larger redhead stares the girl down until she falters.

"He didn't do anything to you, just let him go!"

"Tch!" This time, the black-haired boy rubs his neck. "Annoying girl."

"Maybe we should teach you a lesson too, brat." With the trio's attention drawn away, the bullied boy runs away, leaving the girl alone. Tenten's lip curls at the cowardice, but her attention is drawn back toward the confrontation.

The blonde makes a hand sign that is all too familiar, and Tenten suddenly knows.

Blonde, black, and red.  _Ino-Shika-Cho_.  _Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Chouza._

But this time she doesn't have time to lose herself in her memories, because the seals the blonde is making are more important.

**"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"**

* * *

Nara Shikaku isn't really someone who cares very much about anything in particular, and he knows it. His time is split between three very established pastimes: sleeping, playing shogi, and hanging out with his two best friends.

He knows Inoichi is a bully, but he can't really make himself come around to care about it. Shikaku knows his blonde friend will grow out of it, so he is content to sit and wait.

Today is no different from any other day, with Inoichi taking particular pleasure in tormenting a younger boy with glasses, until an annoying, troublesome girl shows up and tries to be some kind of hero.

He yawns and lets Inoichi intimidate her, watching lazily as his blonde friend starts to perform his mind-switch technique on the girl, until suddenly Inoichi is on the ground and the girl is wide-eyed with shock.

"Didn't your mother teach y'not to be a bully?"

Shikaku stares at the tiny, tiny thing standing over Inoichi, and his first thought is,  _how **old**  is this girl?_

"Brat, you're gonna pay for that," Inoichi snarls, picking himself up to full height to tower over the midget.

Defiant chocolate eyes stare into jade green, and the girl says, "Bring it on, blondie."

Shikaku sighs, knowing Inoichi's infamous temper will end up with the girl severely injured and his friend grounded, and closes his eyes in acceptance of the inevitable.

Only... the inevitable doesn't happen. When he senses chakra being channeled, his eyes snap to the girl, whose feet are emanating a dim, almost unnoticeable glow. He tracks the girl, who ducks under Inoichi's sloppy right hook and too-high roundhouse kick with surprising control and speed. She then leaps up to deliver a chakra-powered axe kick to Inoichi's chest, bringing him to his knees.

She doesn't let Inoichi recover though, and rushes forward to jab him with chakra-laden fingers twice, four times, eight times, until Inoichi slumps to the ground in pain. Chouza hesitates to step forward to defend the blonde at seeing the girl's surprising skill, and Shikaku's eyes narrow.

"What did you do to me?" Inoichi groans, wincing in pain.

"I put my chakra in the pressure points in your arms so you can't use 'em," the girl tells him, her voice frank and free of boastful pride. Shikaku knows most younger children would brag at beating someone of Inoichi's caliber and age, and is surprised. "It'll go away by the end o' class, but maybe that'll teach you to stop bullyin' people."

The girl turns to leave, but Shikaku steps forward and blocks her way. The flicker of recognition that flashes through her eyes only makes him more curious. "That looks like a Juuken move if I've ever seen one," he drawls, and watches as the girl's face stiffens and jaw tightens. He looks into her brown eyes, knowing the answer but asking anyways. "You a Hyuuga?"

"No," she replies shortly. "Just something I made up."

"Huh. What a coincidence." She steps around him, coiled like a wound up spring, and leads the shocked brunette girl away.

"Oi, what's your name?" he calls after her. He gets no response, but it only peaks his curiosity more.

Chouza bites his lip worriedly, while Inoichi tries to massage the feeling back into his arms. He snarls, "That  _bi_ -"

"Aw, save it, Inoichi," Shikaku sighs. "You can get her back later, though I dunno why you even bother."

Inoichi rolls his eyes, muttering under his breath as he stalks off, and Chouza turns to Shikaku with a sigh. "He had it coming. You know that."

"He'll learn." Shikaku looks up, wishing it was nighttime so he could sleep under the stars. "I'm more interested 'bout that girl."

"She's like a mouse," Chouza muses, and Shikaku laughs. "A tiny, terrifying mouse."

"A tiny, terrifying,  _troublesome_  mouse," Shikaku says, and follows after Inoichi with Chouza snickering at his heels.

* * *

"I could've handled it, y'know," Nakamura Yoshino mutters, glaring down at the ground.

The bun-haired girl - _what was her name again?_  - gives her a wry smile in return. "I'm sure you could have, but you would've ended up embarrassing yourself."

"Don't make fun of me," Yoshino hisses, bristling.

The girl - _oh right, Tenten!_  - shrugs. "Wasn't makin' fun of you. The blonde guy's a Yamanaka, y'know. He was gonna switch minds with you and make you strip down to your birthday suit or somethin' embarrassin' like that."

Yoshino blanches at the thought of standing in the middle of the yard stark naked. To her civilian parents it was bad enough she wanted to be a ninja, but if they ever heard of something like  _this_... Kaa-san would've  _killed_  her.

"O' course," Tenten continues, "next time he tries that just keep your feet movin' or else he'll getcha. He can't switch minds with you 'less y'stay still."

"Why can't I do something embarrassing to him then?" Yoshino demands. "If he's gonna make fun of me then I'll just make him dance like a girl then!" She giggles at the idea of it; the blonde looks so much like a girl already that it would be  _so_  funny.

"Doesn't work that way, m'afraid," Tenten apologizes, "Some sorta family jutsu that kinda traps you but lets him do whatever he wants."

"That's not fair!" she pouts, frowning.

"Life's not fair." Tenten laughs oddly, and Yoshino looks at her in confusion. The bun-haired girl meets her own eyes, and Yoshino feels like she is standing in front of her ex-ninja Oji-san, who while telling Yoshino stories of the First Shinobi World War would wear an unfocused gaze that matches Tenten's own.

"You're Tenten, right?" Yoshino changes the topic because she has always hated seeing the look on her grandfather's face, and seeing it on a girl the same age as her is even  _more_  wrong. She sticks out a hand. "Nakamura Yoshino. I'm in your class."

Tenten blinks and the look is gone, and she pauses for a moment before taking Yoshino's hand and shaking it with a firm grip. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meetcha too!" Yoshino smiles, then starts talking quickly. "Hey, what d'ya think of Toushi-sensei? You've been here for a year, so what d'ya think? I've had him since I came to the Academy, but I think he's kinda a wimp, y'know? But he's supposed t'be a Chunin, right? So he's not  _supposed_  to be so wimpy, but it's so easy to tie 'im up and play tricks on him! And his lectures are so boring I just wanna  _die_."

Tenten chuckles, "He  _is_  kinda wimpy, isn't he?"

Yoshino snorts. "Even Maki can hurt him in our taijutsu practices, and all she has to do is stomp on his foot!" She is glad to see Tenten laugh quietly, and cheers inwardly at making the girl feel better.

She doesn't think anyone deserves to have that look on their face, especially a nice girl like Tenten.

* * *

Tenten lays back in the grass, staring at a passing flock of birds as she catches her breath.

 _One and a half years, eighteen months._  It is a long time for most children, whose days pass in routine and worry free, but for a girl like Tenten, it has passed by remarkably quickly.

She looks over at the targets pinned to the trees, targets taking the shape of different sized human bodies. There are kunai and shuriken embedded in would-be vital areas, and the senbon that are patterned along pressure points make her smile.

Her accuracy is back to what it once was, and her other reserves are climbing slowly but surely.

"Tenten! You're here early!" Tenten sits up to see Tsume and Kuromaru bounding through entrance of the Academy-level training grounds, looking surprisingly chipper for once.

"Inuzuka Tsume, awake and smiling at six in the morning on a Monday?" Tenten's jaw drops in mock shock, "Next thing you know, you'll be telling me you're in love with Kenshi!"

"Oi, don't even go there!" Tsume yells, and Tenten is suddenly assaulted by a slobbering dog tongue and fingers digging into her ticklish sides. The trio wrestle around in the grass, before Tenten collapses in hysterics.

"I yield, I yield!" she shouts, tears streaming from her eyes as she wheezes. Kuromaru gives her one final lick before springing off of her chest, but Tsume sits resolutely on her stomach, pinning her arms down.

"I ain't gettin' off 'til you take that back!" Tsume shudders. "The day I like that teme is the day Yoshino starts likin' that prissy Yamanaka boy!"

"Don't bring me into your arguments please," comes a dry voice, and both girls turn to see Yoshino watching them with a raised eyebrow. "And please, go on! Don't mind me."

Tsume looks down, as if suddenly realizing the rather suggestive position she's in, and springs off of Tenten faster than the Lady Damiyo's cat. "I like boys, Yoshino!" the feral girl hollers, and Yoshino grins.

"Maa, maa, calm down  _Tsu-tsu-kun_ ," she teases, Kuromaru and Tenten laughing as Tsume's face turns pink. Tsume's parents had let the nickname slip the last time Tenten and Yoshino came to the Inuzuka household for dinner, and they'd been giving Tsume grief for it ever since.

"I'm gonna kill Ma," she mutters. " _And_  Pa.  _And_  Ginmaru.  _And_  Kenshi-teme."

Tenten's lips quirked into a little smile. "Oh? I don't remember Kenshi calling you anything but  _Tsume-chan_."

Tsume flushes furiously. "I'm gonna kill him," she growls, "And then I'm gonna kill all three of you!"

She pounces on Yoshino first, and somehow they end up in a four-way dog pile, Kuromaru perched on top barking triumphantly. But soon they all dissolve into laughter and giggles, going through their warm-ups and taijutsu katas with stomach cramps and sore throats.

Eight-thirty comes around all too quickly for Tenten's tastes, but she still lets Yoshino and Tsume drag her off for a quick dango breakfast before class, grinning all the while.

* * *

Tenten notices that her smiles come easier nowadays, and feels something in her lightened heart that she hasn't felt since her Genin days.

Happiness.

* * *

 **"Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect. Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things."** \- Ann Brashares,  _The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants_


	6. Arc I, Childhood: To Bleed

When the announcement comes that Sarutobi Biwako is three months pregnant with her second child, Tenten finds it slightly ridiculous. How is it that so many people can suddenly drop everything and start preparing for a welcoming festival over half a year away? From what she remembers, Konoha was never really big on welcoming festivals, even with the birth of Sarutobi Konohamaru.

The only real comparison she has is the annual Kyuubi celebrations, but those were never things she particularly enjoyed, even as a child. And after discovering the truth about Naruto's tenant and Madara's involvement in the Kyuubi attack, festivals and celebrations in general lost all attraction to her.

Nevertheless, it doesn't stop her from being the tiniest bit excited... and anxious at the same time.

She, Tsume, and Yoshino spend entire afternoons wandering through the main streets of the village, watching as more and more vendors set up stalls and booths in anticipation for the village-wide celebration. It makes all the shinobi uneasy at seeing the number of foreign merchants entering Konoha, especially with the threat of war looming from Iwa and Kumo, but there isn't much the Konoha shinobi or even the Hokage can do about it.

She mentally bets that Iwa and Kumo have already placed bounties on the head of the unborn Sarutobi child.

Tenten privately believes the Daimyo is an idiot for spreading the news of Biwako-sama's pregnancy, and doesn't doubt that the Hokage feels the same way. It's a screaming invitation for assassins and mercenaries to infiltrate Konoha, and entering the village, normally a difficult task with paperwork checks and semi-mild interrogations, is made easier by the Daimyo's ruling to allow unrestricted access to Fire Country merchants to and from Konoha in preparation of the festival.

It is dangerous, idiotic, and insane, and every person with any semblance of ninja training knows it, right down to the lowest Academy students. Tenten doesn't let her guard down even as she sleeps, and tells Tsume and Yoshino to be careful.

"What d'ya mean there's enemy nin in Konoha?" Tsume shouts, glancing around the empty training ground in trepidation.

"Pipe down!" Yoshino hisses, then turns to Tenten with a stern look. "Explain."

"It's pretty obvious we're not exactly loved by the other Elemental Countries," Tenten says, glancing between her two friends. "Iwa and Suna are probably holding grudges from the last war, and Kumo never really liked us anyways, so there's bound to be a couple enemy spies in the village."

"But with Daimyo-sama idiotically broadcasting the news about Biwako-sama, there's a pretty high chance that some of those enemy nin may try to assassinate Biwako-sama to end the Sarutobi legacy." Tenten smiles grimly at her friends' horrified faces; sometimes, it is too easy to forget they are only nine years old, Tenten herself younger. "And that's excluding the mercenaries and assassins who'll be trying to sneak into the village between now and the festival to kill either Biwako-sama or Hokage-sama, or take the two Sarutobi children."

"You think with all the merchants coming in, it'll be easy to pretend to be here for the festival," Yoshino muses, and Tenten nods. "And since Biwako-sama will be at the festival with Hokage-sama and their children, it'll be easier to slip under their guard."

"Not to mention the civilians that'll be there."

"Traditionally it's the richer ones that get to see Biwako-sama first, but Ma says that when the Sarutobi heir was born they monopolized Biwako-sama for the whole festival," Tsume says, making a face. "Pa works with some of them for the village council, and they're all just sycophants from the merchant families."

"I'm surprised you even know what 'monopolize' and 'sycophant' mean," Yoshino remarks dryly, and Tsume sticks her tongue out at the other girl's teasing.

Tenten cracks a smile but continues, "That means that the only people surrounding Hokage-sama and his family will be a few guards, and a crap ton of useless civilians."

"They might use civilians as hostages," Tsume adds. "Or they might just kill them."

"Either way, neither option is good. If their ultimate goal is to eliminate the Hokage's family, it doesn't matter how many people they kill in the process. If anything, the chaos will help them hide." Tenten sighs. "I don't know if there's going to be an increase of guards during the festival itself, but it's always good to be prepared."

Yoshino nods. "If anything, at least we can go to the festival and help out if something does happen."

Tsume looks thoughtful. "Huh. I guess those tactics lessons aren't so useless after all."

Yoshino rolls her eyes, but Tenten knows that three Academy students won't be able to do much, and she knows that Tsume and Yoshino know too. But Tenten is no mere Academy student, and if anything, warning them makes her feel better about the whole thing, so she hopes it won't come down to what she fears.

* * *

Yoshino winces at the elbow that jabs into her side, but cannot do anything when her Kaa-san shoots her a warning look. Baring her teeth in the semblance of a smile, Yoshino's eyes dart through the crowd, watching as much as her short stature can allow.

She has to pretend to scratch at the itchy bandages wrapped around her thighs to prevent herself from palming shuriken every time she spots someone approaching the Hokage and his wife. She is thankful that her family is wealthy so she can stay closer to the Sarutobi family, but the tension and adrenaline running through her body is grating on her nerves.

For all her youth and ignorance, Yoshino is if nothing perceptive, and therefore knows Tenten's warning is valid. She's lost count of how many people she has seen in full shinobi gear, Hokage-sama himself included. Yoshino herself has shuriken holsters strapped to her thighs, a handful of senbon in her elaborately done hair, and a set of kunai hidden in each sweeping sleeve of her fancy yukata.

She looks over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of a familiar face weaving and bobbing through the crowd. The Henge Tenten wears is an older-looking version of the bun haired girl, clad in what Yoshino recognizes as a miko outfit - red hakama pants, white haori top, tabi sandals, azusayumi bow, and tanto blade.

From a distance, it's unsettling how uncannily similar Tenten's Henge is to the real thing, and if she didn't know better Yoshino would've pegged the woman as a shrine maiden in the flesh. Tenten's disguise  _is_  more convincing than some of the other miko costumers roaming the crowds... especially the rather drunken ones.

She turns away from Tenten and scans the crowd for Tsume, who she spots in the line to see Biwako-sama with her parents and Ginmaru, Kuromaru sitting in her arms. Yoshino giggles at the girl's scowling face - scrubbed down, wearing makeup, and standing in a pastel yukata with heeled sandals, this Tsume is a far cry from the normal tomboy, and if the look on some of the surrounding boys' faces is any indication, Tsume's new look is garnering lots of attention.

Not that Tsume's going to notice, Yoshino muses. After all, Tsume's too busy being angry, and the bolder boys are being scared off by a curiously protective Inuzuka Kenshi. But then Yoshino meets Tsume's eyes, and grins a little when the other girl smiles and winks, before scowling at the world once more.

Suddenly, there is a low, almost inaudible hiss, and Yoshino only notices because of how Biwako-sama visibly tenses and how the Hokage steps forward protectively.

Chaos erupts as everyone around her begins to scream and yell, and Yoshino begins fighting her way towards her Hokage.

* * *

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck fuck fuck-"

"Language!" her Ma snaps, but Tsume doesn't care. All she can hear are shouts and screams and yells and - her nose twitches - something burning.

" _Get down_!" her Pa bellows, and Tsume drops to the ground just as a large explosion rocks the street and sends burning shrapnel into the booths and stalls.

Tsume feels her arms being gripped tightly by two different hands, her Ma and Kenshi-teme, but all she registers is _explosion, burning, Hokage-sama, Biwako-sama, Yoshino, Tenten..._

_Tenten... **enemy shinobi**!_

She pulls back, letting the surging, panicking crowd rip her away from her Ma and Kenshi-teme, and she ditches her heels to push through the crowd barefoot, moving Kuromaru to perch on her head. For what feels like a lifetime she stumbles and runs, ignoring the cuts on her feet, until she spots a familiar figure slumped against an abandoned food stall.

"Yoshino!" Tsume yells, and is both relieved and terrified when she sees - and smells - no blood. A few scratches litter the girl's face, her yukata dirty and ripped, but Tsume inhales sharply when she realizes Yoshino is nursing a swollen ankle.

"I'm fine," she snarls, and Tsume is shocked when Yoshino yanks up her skirts to unfasten two shuriken holsters from her legs. The pouches are thrust into her hands, "Here, take them!"

"What about you?" Tsume hisses, trying to give one back to Yoshino, but stops when hidden kunai and senbon are pulled from Yoshino's sleeves and hairdo.

"Heh. Worried about me,  _Tsu-tsu-kun_?" Tsume scowls at Yoshino's smirk, but the two of them sober up quickly when another wave of civilians rushes past.

"I'll be fine. Go help Tenten protect Hokage-sama!" Yoshino uses her good leg to kick Tsume in the direction of the chaos, and Tsume spares only one look to her friend before sprinting off towards the sound of fighting.

She smells the battle before she sees it. Tsume isn't very far from Yoshino before a distinct, pungent odor hits her sensitive nose, and Kuromaru whimpers at the new smell, obviously disliking it. It isn't until she looks down that she realizes what it is.

_Burning flesh._

Charred, burned bodies litter the ground, trampled into the dirt street by the panicking civilians. Tsume fights the urge to retch at the sight of the blistering, bloodied corpses, but her attention is drawn to a smear of white and red darting down an alley.

 _Tenten!_  Tsume follows as fast as she can, leaping over fallen bodies - civilian and ninja alike. Biwako-sama, Hokage-sama be damned;  _I am going to help my best friend!_

She stops at the mouth of the alley, mouth dropping in a mix of horror and shock. Tenten, still in her Henge, stands a little ways away from a dark-clothed figure holding a squirming bundle in his arms, and her ears pick up the sound of soft cries. One look at the boy's face and her blood runs cold.

The child is the Hokage's son, his heir.  _Sarutobi Ren._

* * *

"Let him go," Tenten hisses, and the man laughs gutturally.

"Or what, girlie?" She suppresses a shiver as she sees the man's eyes rake over her Henge, leering. "The kid's coming with me, dead or alive... but I suppose I could use some entertainment for the trip home."

Tenten grits her teeth, mentally running through her options. Her only readily accessible weapons are the bow in her hand and the tanto at her side, but she doesn't want to risk close combat with the enemy shinobi for fear of being outclassed. The man is clearly at least Jounin level, but Tenten can see his arrogance clouding his judgement and hopes she is right to make her gamble.

"If you let him go I'll go with you," she says lowly, but before the nin can reply a yell rings through the dark alley.

"No, don't do it Tenten!" Tsume's familiar voice almost startles her, but she doesn't turn her back to her opponent. She has learned that lesson the hard way many times before.

"Tsume,  _trust me_." She stares the man in the eye. "Me for the boy."

"Ha! You think I'm an idiot, sweetheart?" The ninja's leer melts into a snarl, all semblance of pleasantries gone and cold-heartedness in place. "This brat is worth more than you are, dead or alive." Tenten's heart nearly stops when the man's hand wraps around the child'd throat, and dark brown eyes dart towards her in a silent plea for help as the man begins to squeeze.

"No!" Tenten hears Tsume's scream, and when the man looks towards the sound Tenten notches a chakra-laced arrow into her bow, releasing it.

_Squelch._

"Urk-!" The man's grip loosens on the child to try and pull the arrow out of his heart. The young boy runs to Tenten, burrowing his tear-striken face into the folds of her hakama, but Tenten's eyes narrow as she notices the man's hand straying to a kunai pouch.

She reaches back for another arrow, but flinches when a wave of shuriken fly past her and embed themselves solidly into the man's chest and brain, instant kills.  _Tsume_ , Tenten thinks, and sure enough the girl rushes up to her.

"You idiot!" Tsume yells, punching her in the stomach hard enough to hurt but light enough so Tenten knows it isn't meant to last. "Idiot,  _idiot_ ,  ** _idiot_**! Don't you ever do that again, you hear?  _Don't you dare_!" There are tears glistening on Tsume's tattooed cheeks, and Tenten feels a wave of affection for her friend's concern.

"I won't,  _Tsu-chan_ ," Tenten says, using the nickname on purpose as she is pulled into a tight hug. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

"Humph." Tsume draws back, a red flush on her face as she rubs her face with her ruined yukata sleeve. "We have to get back; Yoshino twisted her ankle trying to get to Biwako-sama."

"You get her to the hospital, I'll take this little guy back to the Hokage." Tenten looks down at the child, who is still clutching at her legs, and decides he can't really be more than six.  _Poor kid._

Tsume nods sharply and leaves the alley, and Tenten glances back at the cooling body behind her.  _Tsume's first kill_ , she realizes, and her heart is heavy as she recognizes the price her friend has paid.

"Come on, little guy," she murmurs, shouldering her bow before bending down to swing the little boy into her arms. When he falls asleep in exhaustion, she smiles slightly. "Let's get you back to your parents."

* * *

"Ren!" Biwako cries, and Hiruzen looks up to see his son cradled in the arms of a woman in a traditional shrine costume, flanked by four ANBU guards.

 _A miko?_  He wonders what is a miko doing in Konoha, until he remembers the welcoming festival... and the attempted assassination of his family.

"Biwako-sama," the lady greets, dipping her head in respect before transferring the sleeping child into his wife's trembling arms. "I believe I have something of yours."

"Thank you, miko-san," Biwako whispers, bowing deeply to the woman. "I am forever in your debt."

"As am I," Hiruzen says softly, nodding when the woman bows her head to him as well. He looks at his son in his wife's arms and remembers those few minutes of panic and sorrow after killing the ambushing ninja, minutes that had felt like years.

 _Failure as a father, failure as a husband, failure as a leader,_  he muses bitterly, thinking of the dead bodies littering the streets. His fingers tighten involuntarily around the swath of cloth in his arms, and he looks down at his newborn son sadly. _I am sorry, musuko._

"I was simply doing my duty," the woman murmurs humbly, and Hiruzen is struck by how young the miko is.  _Less of a woman, more of a girl,_  he notes, smiling wryly.

"If there is anything I can do for you, miko-san, please name it." Hiruzen stares into her eyes, and catches the wisdom and age in the depths of her eyes. They are eyes that have seen war and suffering.

The girl smiles. "Thank you, but is not necessary. Saving the life of a child is payment enough." She bows, stepping back. "By your leave, Hokage-sama."

"So be it." Seeing her unease at being surrounded by his ANBU guards, he makes a gesture for them to stand down, letting the miko slip into the streets.

He is about to order someone to follow her until Biwako lays a hand on his arm. "Let her go," she murmurs, and when he looks down at her questioningly, she nods down at Ren. "We owe her."

His expression softens and he relents. "Alright."

* * *

The death toll comes to over two hundred civilians and thirty-six ninja - seventeen Genin, twelve Chunin, three Jounin, and two of the Hokage's ANBU guards.

Amongst the dead, eight people are found bearing evidence of being spies for Iwa.

A week from the disaster, rumors are spreading throughout the village, the most popular being the one everyone feared most.

_Konoha is going to war._

* * *

**"War is waged by nations, but it is human beings who pay the price."**  - Menelaus,  _Helen of Troy_


	7. Arc I, Childhood: Of Heart

Standing at the notice board with her lips set in a grim line, Tenten reads the poster one more time, just to make sure she isn't just seeing things.

"War?" Yoshino whispers in disbelief, and Tenten glances at Tsume to see her face blank with shock.

"It's gotta be what happened to Hokage-sama's kids," Tsume murmurs softly, and Tenten can only look back at the poster, biting her lip. It's been two weeks since the disaster at Sarutobi Asuma's welcoming festival, and Tenten still hasn't confronted Tsume about the Iwa spy she killed.

"Not just that. I heard Tou-san tell Kaa-san that Iwa, Kumo, and Suna are planning to make a formal alliance to try invading Fire Country territories." Yoshino looked at her and Tsume with pained eyes. "He said the shinobi and civilian councils have been disbanded to make a council specifically for the war."

"Not just any war," Tenten says. "The Third Shinobi World War." She notices Tsume and Yoshino exchange looks, but Tenten doesn't care. She hadn't thought about the war that had secured Konoha as the most powerful hidden village, but she berates herself for overlooking it.

Had growing up in peacetime for both her childhoods softened her so much that she had become complacent?

"It says they're changing the Academy graduation age to ten starting with the newest class. I guess that means we'll be graduating at next year." Yoshino muses, reading the smaller flyer next to the large poster. "Genin are being bumped up to C and B-rank missions in place of Chunin."

"That means retrieval and courier missions." Tenten frowns. "And the possibility of fighting up to Jounin level enemy nin."

"But we're only eleven." Tsume's voice cracks, and at her side Kuromaru whimpers.

"Doesn't matter," Tenten says bitterly. "We'll have to go out there and fight... you're a soldier until you die."

The words, once said without emotion nor feeling, come back and haunt her.  _Where is your bravado? Where is your pride?_  There is mocking laugher echoing through her mind, bringing up memories of another war, of death, and of a tiny girl standing stoically in front of a man.  _You will fight until your death._

"How can we do that?" Tenten turns to stare at Tsume, who's eyes are filling with angry tears. At her side, Yoshino flinches when Tsume reaches up and tears the Academy notice from the board, ripping it to shreds with furious concentration. "How can we go out and fight a  _war_  when we're only  _eleven fucking years old_?"

Tenten watches helplessly as Tsume spins and darts away, Kuromaru at her heels.

* * *

Tsume stares at her hands, unaware of Kuromaru's wet nose nudging her bare arms. There is nothing on her skin but dirt and dust, but to all she can see is rivulets of red, flowing from her fingertips down to her elbows, dripping down to the earth she is sitting on.

 _Schwack!_  She remembers how the shuriken in her hands slid against each other, sharp metal edges catching on one another. Her hands clench into throwing position, and she can practically feel the cool, oiled metal trapped between her finger joints.

 _Thump!_  Her ears rings with the sound of metal sinking into soft, unyielding flesh, smoother than a sushi knife slicing through raw fish. Her nose twitches at the phantom smell of iron, and she can taste the metallic tinge of blood flecking her lips. The combination causes her stomach to flip.

"Tsume?" Her head snaps up and her eyes meet Tenten's worried features.

"Hey," she murmurs, and makes no move as Tenten sits down in the dirt in beside her.

Tsume doesn't know how long she sits in silence, staring at her hands, while Tenten waits quietly beside her. Her mind runs over the motions again and again, and when the shine of the sun begins to slip into shadow she murmurs, "Does it ever get easier?"

Tenten looks at her sharply, but Tsume knows what Tenten doesn't say out loud. There is something in her friend that drew Tsume to her at first sight, something born from a strange mix of curiosity and pity. It is something she sees in her parents, in her teachers, and in the ninja who wander the streets, and although it has taken her two years to find it she can finally name it.

It is something Tsume didn't understand until the moment someone died at her hands, someone who once lived and breathed, loved and slept like she did.

It is the hollow, endless desperation to hold onto what defines you as human.

"Yes," Tenten answers, and Tsume exhales in part relief, and part revulsion. "And no."

"All I can see is his blood," she whispers, "I'm a murderer." She feels Tenten shift over to pull Tsume into a sideways hug, and Tsume clutches the slim girl's arms tightly.

"There will always be blood, and there will always be guilt," Tenten says, "But if there isn't blood or guilt, there won't be someone there to protect what you love."

"What if I kill so much it becomes too easy? What if I start...  _liking it_?"

" _You will not like it,_ " Tenten says sternly, and pulls back to stare at Tsume in the eye. "You will accept it only to protect, but you will never kill for the sake of enjoyment."

"But what if I do?" The idea shakes Tsume so much that Kuromaru buried his face into her neck, trying to comfort her. "What if I become a  _monster_?"

"You won't," Tenten replies, "because  _I won't let you_. And Yoshino won't either."

When Tsume doesn't reply, she hears Tenten begin to speak softly.

"There was a man who lived near the orphanage who liked to come over and watch us play in the backyard," Tenten starts carefully, catching Tsume's attention. "He was very... vocal, I guess, about what kinds of kids were his favorites and stuff like that. It creeped me out."

Tsume sees Tenten's hands clench, knuckles white, and she pales when Tenten says, "He started taking kids away to his house, and he... hurt them."

"Did he...?"

"I don't know," comes the glum answer, and Tsume is floored. Being sheltered by her parents and her clan's standing, she is not aware of the darker side of Konoha where evils hide in sheep's clothing. It opens her eyes to the differences between her life and Tenten's, and it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

"He tried taking you, didn't he?" Tsume knows what the answer is, and Tenten's mouth tightens into a line.

"I overloaded chakra into his heart." Tsume notes the flatness of her friend's voice, with an undertone of steel. "The official story is that he died from a heart attack."

"Do you regret it?"

"Do I regret killing a human being? Yes. But do I regret protecting my friends from someone worse than trash?" Tenten's eyes have a hard look in them. "Never."

Tsume mulls over her words, even after Tenten pats her shoulder and heads back to the orphanage as she walks back to the Inuzuka compound.

"Kuro... if you had to kill someone to protect someone important to you, would you?" Tsume closes her eyes when Kuromaru barks an affirmative, and sighs.

"I would too," she whispers, the heaviness in her heart still weighing down her chest.

Then she looks at her hands, and although she sees blood, in her mind she knows there is less on her skin than there was before.

* * *

A few short raps on the door to his office knocks Hiruzen Sarutobi out of focus, and he can't suppress the sigh that escapes him as he gently places down his brush. He had been hoping for a quiet morning before the afternoon's war council to tackle his paperwork, but as usual, nothing ever goes as planned.

"Come in," he calls, and expresses his surprise at his visitor by raising his eyebrows and folding his hands.

"Hokage-sama," the Genin, recently graduated if the unmarked hitai-ate is any indication, greets him formally, bowing. "Genin Nara Shikaku, sir."

"Ah, Shikano's boy, yes?" The boy nods his affirmative, and Hiruzen smiles. "What can I do for you today?"

Hiruzen notices the slight tensing of the boy's shoulders and the twitch in the boy's jaw, silently taking in the off combination of hesitation and anticipation in the boy's unsure form. This makes him slightly anxious; what could a new Genin be both scared and anxious about, particularly a chronically lazy Nara?

"I think there's a spy in the village," the Nara boy says lowly, and Hiruzen freezes.

Silently, the ANBU ninja in the room move outside to guard the door and windows, while Hiruzen taps a soundproofing seal on his desk twice, watching as blue lines of chakra flare across the floor and walls and ceiling. "May I ask what brings you to this conclusion?" He settles his chin on his clasped hands, studying the nervous boy who fidgets under his gaze.

"There is a girl," Shikaku says haltingly. "In the Academy."

Hiruzen just barely stops himself from questioning whether the boy's nervousness is resulted from an unrequited crush, but something in the Nara boy's eyes make him pause and listen. It is the same look that Nara Shikano gets when he can't quite figure something out, down to the spark of frustration and the overwhelming curiosity, and it is... unusual.

"Go on."

"She is... unusual," the Genin says, almost helplessly. "I can't explain exactly why... but there's something about her that seems... odd."

"Perhaps some examples? Any signs of advanced skills, higher intelligence?"

Shikaku sighs. "Her skill and intelligence levels tend to match that of her classmates. An interesting proficiency in weaponry and perfect accuracy, and high scores on written exams, but seemingly average in practical jutsu application and strength. If anything, her high speed and stealth is unusual, but it can be attributed to her small stature."

Hiruzen frowns, trying to think of a face to place with Shikaku's theory, but falls short. "Is there any information on her family?"

"She's apparently an orphan who lives with Nono-san's orphanage." Shikaku shrugs off the sharp look Hiruzen shoots him. "I overheard her talking about it to her friends during lunch. Her name is Tenten, currently finishing her penultimate year of the academy."

Hiruzen turns his eyes to the crystal ball sitting at the far corner of his desk, waving a hand over the transparent surface and watching as an image of a rather nondescript girl comes into view. A closer look reveals that the girl is reading a tome on fuuinjutsu.  _Interesting_.

"Is this her?" Shikaku nods, and Hiruzen graces him with a smile. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Shikaku-kun."

The dismissal is clear, but the boy lingers just so slightly that Hiruzen registers the hesitation to something more than nervousness.

"Is there something else I can help you with?"

"I... Her taijutsu skills." Shikaku shifts. "From the little I've seen, she unconsciously channels chakra to her hands and feet, and tends to mimic several Juuken moves."

Hiruzen sits up straighter. "Hyuuga Juuken?"

"Hai."

"So you think she may be a spy from Kumo."

"Possibly. Of course," Shikaku admits, "I could be paranoid. She could have Hyuuga classmates or friends."

Hiruzen hums in reply and says, "I will see what I can do. Thank you again, Shikaku-kun."

"By your leave, Hokage-sama," Shikaku bows, and leaves through the door.

As the soundproofing seal wears off, Hiruzen thinks. And when he senses his ANBU guards nearby again, he calls out, "Hawk."

The ninja appears at his side, kneeling and head bowed in a show of servitude. "Hokage-sama."

"Shadow the Academy student Tenten. Report to me any suspicious behavior." The ANBU straightens to look at the crystal ball, and nods before vanishing though the window.

Hiruzen looks down at his paperwork and sighs, dipping his brush into the bowl of water to wash ink from the soft bristles. He hopes that Nara Shikaku is wrong, and that this Tenten is simply just a regular academy student, but he will have to wait for Hawk's report.

After all, he is a ninja first and foremost, and a Hokage second. And for a shinobi, the most important lesson is one that has been ingrained within him ever since his childhood days were taken over by Senju Hashirama and Senji Tobirama.

_A misinformed shinobi is a dead shinobi._

* * *

"Team 4," Toushi-sensei recites from the paper, "Masaharu Jirou, Jibaku Akira, Inuzuka Tsume. Meet your sensei at the lobby of the Hokage Tower."

"Shit," Tsume mutters, and when Tenten reaches over to squeeze her friend's hand she hopes it is reassuring.

"Try to get along with them," she murmurs, but Tsume snorts.

"Easy for you to say," she grumbles. "You're not the one Jibaku wants to blow up."

Tenten opens her mouth to reply but winces when Toushi-sensei shoots her a dirty look. She mouth snaps shut and she settles for a grimace of pity when the next team formation is called.

"Team 5. Honda Toko, Nakamura Yoshino, and Matsumoto Hiro. Your sensei will be waiting for you at the base of the Hokage Monument."

Yoshino lets out a sigh of relief, and Tenten gives her a smile.  _Good for you_ , she mouths, and Yoshino replies with a smile of her own for Tenten and a sympathetic look for the grumbling Tsume.

"Team 6. Hyuuga Hikari, Tenten, Hirohito Takashi." Toushi-sensei makes an odd face as he says, "Meet your sensei at Ramen Ichiraku."

Tenten returned Tsume and Yoshino's questioning glances with ones of her own, ignoring the odd meeting place in favor of her team placement. To her knowledge, there has never been a Konoha Genin team with more than one female, despite the widely accepted all male Genin formation. She knows the team formations are decided by the Hokage, so she wonders what type of team Sarutobi Hiruzen has in mind for them.

"Not tracking," she murmurs to herself softly. "But maybe... Frontal assault? Infiltration? Assassination?"

The first doesn't make any sense to Tenten, if only because of her own skills combined with those of her team members. Being a former teammate and training partner for a Hyuuga, she knows that if a tracking team had been the goal, Hyuuga Hikari would've been Tsume's teammate and Tenten would've had Jibaku Akira on her team instead.

Frontal assault, while a possibility, is something Tenten can't really see their team doing. Tenten's own skills, better than the ones she had upon graduating the first time, place her in both support and frontal assault positions with her weaponry, and Hikari's Hyuuga abilities speak for themselves. However, Hirohito Takashi's strengths are trap-making, stealth, and evasion; none of which lend themselves to the skills a frontal assault team would prefer.

She is left with infiltration and assassination, but she has a nagging feeling her team is formed with a predisposition towards the latter. Hyuuga Juuken-induced kills can be softened to mimic heart attacks, and her own accuracy with weapons mean she can kill with a single, well-placed senbon or kunai from a distance, never needing to do close-range killings. Takashi's high stealth abilities would simply be icing on the cake.

 _Maybe both_ , she decides, and when the teams are all called she stands up. "Good luck, both of you," she says, looking at Yoshino and Tsume each in turn. "We still up for dinner tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Yoshino grins, and Tsume nods, too busy muttering angrily under her breath. With a wave goodbye, she heads over to where her two teammates are waiting at the door.

"Shall we?" Takashi holds open the door, and looking at the grin on his face Tenten decides he looks nice enough. Hikari, who brushes past the two of them without a word, is a different story.

"Well that's a bit rude," Tenten grumbles, and to her surprise Takashi laughs.

"It's typical Hyuuga behavior," he explains, shrugging as they follow Hikari to the ramen stand. "You'll get used to it."

Tenten smiles, but inside a part of her twists. I should be used to it, she tells herself. With a teammate like Neji, the consummate example of Hyuuga arrogance, she should've expected it, but the familiar gesture hurts all the same, even more because of how she forgets.

Sighing, she ducks under the fabric flaps of Ramen Ichiraku, meeting the backs of Hikari and a woman with a waterfall of blood red hair.

"You must be our Jounin sensei," Takashi chirps, and when the woman turns around Tenten nearly has a heart attack. The woman's face is so uncannily familiar to another close to her heart, and when the ever-lingering pain in her heart doubles, Tenten knows exactly who she is looking at.

Uzumaki Kushina.  _Naruto's mother_.

* * *

Uzumaki Kushina studies her students with a seemingly casual glance, but the look she catches on one of her students' face snatches her interest. It is momentary and fleeting, so quick that she almost doesn't see it, but Kushina sees enough to know that the look is one of recognition.

Which is strange, considering how Kushina is sure she has never seen Tenten before her assignment to the Genin team. And if Kushina hasn't ever seen Tenten, there is no chance Tenten has ever seen her.

It brings her back to the conversation she has with Sarutobi Hiruzen, and she recalls his warning with a more thorough look of the girl.

 _If she shows any sign of wavering loyalty,_  the Hiruzen of her memory says, _incapacitate her and bring her to the torture cells for interrogation._  It is a harsh punishment for one so young, but Kushina knows orders are orders: the village comes first.

Even so, Hiruzen's warning doesn't make her more cautious. It just makes her curious... and a curious Uzumaki is one of the worst kinds.

* * *

 **"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken."** \- Fyodor Dostoyevsky,  _Crime and Punishment_


	8. Arc I, Childhood: Of Hope

Leaving behind a decimated home and emerging in a new world may have broken any other little girl, but Kushina wasn't any little girl. She is an Uzumaki, and she is the second warden of the Kyuubi no Yoko. She knows she cannot afford to be broken.

So Kushina took her brokenness and used it. She nurtured it and cultivated it so the mind-numbing terror and fear of her youth became wary caution and suspicion. They are things that she continues to hold to this day, even in a village she is devoted to serving.

She is cheerful and happy by nature, but it does not make her ignorant nor blind; she knows first hand what human nature is capable of, and she has her own way of discovering the extent of this capability with every person she meets.

After all, people may scoff at Kushina's love of ramen, but there is a reason she brings all her friends and acquaintances to the little stand.

She notes the orders of her Genin with a shrewd look in her eye. The Hyuuga girl orders a seafood ramen in a fish broth - easily the most expensive ramen combination on the menu - with a side of pork dumplings. The  _dashi_  soup base is light and slightly on the sweet side, complimenting the contrasting textures of the shrimp, squid, and scallops. The  _gyoza_ , a touch on the oily side, are the opposite of the ramen: heavy, greasy, and full of rich flavor.

The dishes are quite telling of the girl's personality, the expensive ramen showing that the Hyuuga breeding has a dominance over the majority of the girl's character. It would normally mean the archetypal Hyuuga, but the interesting appetizer choice shows defiance and rebellion.

The choices do not match up with what is in the files she received earlier. The seafood for intelligence and  _dashi_  broth for finesse; that she expects from the girl as a Hyuuga, but the pork for independence and dumplings... for power? Kushina smiles to herself. _Perhaps the little Hyuuga is not so much of a princess after all._

Her second little Genin, the only boy, orders a vegetable ramen in a soy-sauce broth, accompanied by salmon-filled rice balls. Kushina notes the way the boy doesn't even glance at the menu when he orders and takes it into account for her evaluation; she knows the soy sauce broth at the ramen stand is lighter than most ramen places, and in all likelihood her only male Genin knows it too. This makes the overall meal fairly light, yet savory and filling; a bit on the bland side by her tastes, but enough flavor to not overwhelm the senses.

Delicate and healthy, nothing meant to build strength or gain muscle. The dishes show him favoring speed over strength, but the broth nearly throws Kushina for a loop. It is the most flavorful of his choices, but it is a safe choice, if the boy's familiarity is any indication.

This time, the files and her observations match up. Vegetables for agility,  _sake_  for intelligence,  _onigiri_  for lasting energy, and the lighter  _shoyu_  broth for stealth. It is a relief to know that at least one of the children she is given will not bring any surprises to the table.

The last girl takes the longest to pick, hesitating until her teammates finish before ordering. Kushina's eyes nearly rise to her hairline when she hears the mouse-like girl choose pork belly ramen with a black soy broth, accompanied by steamed spinach and radishes. She has never seen anyone choose such an odd combination, and she wonders to herself.

The pairing is unusual because of the stark contrast between two dishes; the nutty, rich flavor of the miso and pork, compared with the subtle, delicate taste of the steamed vegetables. Kushina tries to wrap her mind around what she is given, but comes up with more questions than answers.

She starts out easy.  _Miso_ , complex personality.  _Kuro miso_ , a complex personality with a touch of darkness: death, loss, or even mental pain. She winces internally, because the Academy files are immediately wrong and the ones the Hokage had given her are proving to be more suspicious.

The choice of  _butabara_  is interesting considering the meaty, rich flavor, but when she remembers the spinach and  _daikon_  she nearly slaps herself. _Of course_ , she thinks,  _how could I miss it?_  The three contrasting flavors and textures equalize each other, and she considers all of them.

The pork is the toughest out of the three: the most energizing, the most filling. The spinach is almost equally tough, though differently so; tart and sharp tasting next to the savory pork and the sweet daikon, which has a smooth, melting texture upon reaching the tongue. The pork belly for physical strength, the spinach for spiritual awareness, the radish for mental power. She finds that all three fit right into the complex personality the  _kuro miso_  broth foretells.

Kushina watches her last student for a few more moments before turning to Teuchi and ordering butter corn ramen with a salt based broth and a side of grilled beef tongue -  _shio_  broth for self-assurance, butter for complexity, corn for stamina, and the grilled _gyutan_  for unspeakable secrets. Turning in her chair to face the children, she begins to talk as she muses upon her new Genin team.

 _What an interesting bunch of kids_.

* * *

"So tell me about yourselves," Kushina says, after placing her order with the ramen chef. "I don't think I've met any of you before, so some introductions will be helpful for me."

"Anything you want us to say in particular, sensei?" Takashi asks from Tenten's right. They are sitting in a line, Kushina and her on either end with Takashi and Hikari in the middle.

"Nothing special. Name, age, hobbies, likes and dislikes, dreams and goals... that sort of thing." Kushina says calmly, and Tenten takes in her words while thinking. From what many people had said, Kushina was, is, and  _should be_ , a loudmouth of ridiculous proportions, second only to her son. The calm, collected woman waiting for her ramen does not match Tenten's mental image and it is somewhat startling.

"You first, Kushina-sensei," Hikari says simply, and Tenten tenses at how similar the Hyuuga girl's voice sounds to Hinata's.

"Well I suppose it won't hurt," Kushina murmurs good-naturedly. "My name is Uzumaki Kushina, age twenty, and I received my field promotion to Jounin only a few months ago. My hobbies are training, eating ramen, and meditation. I like  _shio_  ramen and practicing  _fuuinjutsu_ , and I don't like coffee nor arrogance. Goals... Well, I made it to Jounin, but I never thought I'd be taking a Genin team... so my new goal is to make sure you all become strong Chunin of Konoha! As for my dream... my dream is to become the first female Hokage of Konoha!"

Tenten can't help but crack a smile at the last part of Kushina's introduction, as it both warms her heart and brings back a bitter ache to her chest.  _Just like you... eh, Naruto?_

"Next!" Kushina nudges Hikari, and the Hyuuga clears her throat before speaking in a clear, crisp voice.

"My name is Hyuuga Hikari, and I am twelve years old." Hikari begins calmly, pausing to sip at her tea. "My hobbies include reading, writing calligraphy, and performing tea ceremonies. I like shrimp and classical literature; I dislike eggs, and... and my clan's...  _expectations_  for me."

Tenten's eyebrows rise when she hears the hate that coats Hikari's voice as she nearly hisses out the last few words. A quick glance to Kushina reveals a light frown on the woman's face, and Takashi isn't much better.

Hikari, however, continues on normally. "My goal is to become strong enough to protect myself, and my dream is to choose my future." There is silence as she drinks her tea again, and Tenten takes the chance to process the information.

The vehement dislike that Hikari holds is startling similar to that of her ex-teammate, and based upon her past experiences, Tenten can guess that internal clan politics and the Hyuuga elders are heavily involved in whatever plans are being made for Hikari. Being a Main Branch Hyuuga, the most likely problem is an arranged marriage meant for political gain - either to another Main Branch member or to a prominent Fire Country noble.

Tenten gazes at the girl in sympathy, something in her softening towards the Hyuuga. Perhaps it is silly of her, but she can see both Hinata and Neji in Hikari. Comparing her teammate with her past friends, she cannot help but send a bright grin in Hikari's direction. She doesn't mind that the girl returns the smile with a look of indifference; after all, it is only just a place to start.

"Thank you, Hikari," Kushina says slowly, as if trying to analyze the information she had just been given. She is quiet for a few moments, until the smell of their lunches bring her out of her trance.

"Enjoy," Teuchi says cheerfully, placing Tenten's order in front of her with a kind smile. It takes her a considerable amount of self control to return the smile with a shaky one of her own.

" _Itadakimatsu_!" Kushina exclaims, snapping apart the wooden chopsticks and taking a large mouthful of the chewy noodles.

" _Itadakimatsu_ ," Takashi says politely, Hikari echoing the phrase as both begin to eat.

" _Itadakimatsu_ ," Tenten murmurs, and inhales the smell of the her order. She can't help the wistful smile that surfaces as she gathers noodles and pork in her chopsticks.

Ever since the day she was reborn into Konoha all those years ago, Tenten hadn't returned to the small ramen stand until this day, and for good reason. Her order, which would've originally brought about a round of fresh tears and heartache, now graces her with nostalgia, wistfulness, and a dull pain in her heart that can be easily ignored.

 _It's your favorite, Naruto... miso and pork all in one,_  she thinks, closing her eyes as she savors the flavor that explodes on her tongue.  _And Lee, you always told me to eat something other than daikon, right? You always liked spinach for some reason..._

She sighs, only partially listening to Takashi's introduction as she eats with a heavy heart.

"The name's Hirohito Takashi, age twelve, and I train and cook in my spare time," Takashi explains between bites of his  _onigiri_. "I like salmon and running, and I don't like beef or doing chakra exercises all that much. My goal is to make it to Jounin, and my dream... I want to head the Infiltration Division of the ANBU."

"High ambitions," Kushina comments, "But possible." She turns to Tenten, catching her attention. "And last, but not least...?"

"I'm Tenten, and I guess I'm the baby of the team since I'm turning twelve this year." Tenten quickly smiles, her voice friendly and moderate as she speaks. "I enjoy learning about weapons and  _fuuinjutsu_  in my free time, and I like my best friends and experimenting with new techniques. I don't like traitors, nor people who think they're superior to everyone else."

She takes a breath, taking the chance to think. "My goals... well, long-term would be to protect those precious to me. And any short term goals involve surviving the war we're stuck in." At the surprised looks she gets, her smile turns a bit wry and grim.

"And as for my dream..." She gazes into space longingly, thinking of her old friends and all they fought for. "My dream is to achieve world peace."

Her words are met by silence, and she looks over to see both her teammates and her sensei staring at her with varying expressions. Hikari only raises an eyebrow before going back to take a delicate bite out of her dumplings, and Takashi gives her a look of both concern and surprise. It is Kushina's unreadable expression that worries Tenten though; it is familiar, and it means the Uzumaki is curious.

 _Damn it._  She sends Kushina a shaky smile, and nearly breathes a sigh of relief when the woman returns it after the slightest hesitation.

The rest of the meal is spent in light-heared chatter, with Kushina good-naturedly answering Takashi's questions. Tenten offers her own quips and comments now and then, but she prefers to sit quietly and listen, while Hikari chooses to ignore all conversation completely.

At the end of the meal, Kushina leads the three of them to an open training ground, the openness interrupted by three upright logs and the Memorial Stone set far near the cliff of the Hokage Monument. The woman stops at the center of the training ground and faces them with a wide smile, hands on her hips.

"Well, now that you've all been fed and introduced, it's time to get down to business," Kushina exclaims happily. Tenten sends a wary look to the three posts embedded in the ground a little ways off, remembering Gai's rants about his rival's...  _unyouthful_ testing methods.

 _Please don't let this be the bell test,_ Tenten pleads _, please, please, please..._

"What'll we be doing, sensei?" Takashi asks eagerly. "Training? Sparring? Missions?"

Tenten winces at his enthusiasm, reminding her of Naruto's younger days. While being on a team with a two training fanatics and a mule-headed Hyuuga had taught Tenten to have an exceptionally high tolerance level, younger-Naruto was definitely one of the few things she couldn't stand.

And as it turns out, her teammate is looking to be the Naruto/Lee of this generation, albeit less... Naruto-ish; and combined with Hikari's Hyuuga tendencies, Tenten feels like she is back in her Genin days. While something like this would normally make Tenten wish for her old team back, the prospect of breaking in another generation's versions of Naruto/Lee and Neji makes her eyes twitch.

 _At least Kushina isn't another Gai-sensei,_  she thinks, attempting to look on the bright side, but one glance at the way Takashi is grinning -  _oh Kami-sama, is that a tooth sparkle?_  - makes Tenten sigh.  _Fantastic_.

"Heh, not yet, Takashi-kun," Kushina says in amusement. "I'm going to be putting you through the official graduation test."

"Official graduation test?" Takashi echoes, frowning. "But we already passed!"

Kushina-sensei smiles at him in a way Tenten recognizes as humoring him, and Takashi notices it too, his frown deepening. "That was just a way to weed out all the hopeless ones, Takashi-kun. This one's the real test to see if you're ready to be a shinobi."

Kushina pauses, clearly enjoying the way Takashi is swept into her theatrics as he leans forward desperately. "And the catch... only one in every three graduates will actually become active ninja!"

Inside, Tenten smiles, thinking of the answer to Kushina's test.  _Teamwork_. Knowing what Kushina is looking for gives her a breath of relief, and suddenly Tenten is excited. While it is an opportunity to finally stop hiding her skills, it will be her first chance to see how her techniques have improved against someone above Academy level.  _I can't wait!_

Tenten quickly schools her expression into a mask of worry and doubt as Takashi's jaw drops in shock and Hikari widens her eyes in disbelief. Kushina takes a good look at all three of their expressions before chuckling.

"Tell you what, I'll cut you three some slack. We'll start tomorrow at seven sharp, right here." Kushina kicks at the ground with her heel, and grins. "Rest up tonight and bring whatever you think you'll need, because when you wake up tomorrow... all three of your asses are mine."

Tenten can practically see the dread sinking in her stomach as she takes in Kushina's sadistically gleeful expression, and blanches.

 _Forget about Gai-sensei_ , she thinks, suddenly fearful.  _Kushina's worse than him_.

But despite this, she can't help but smile at Kushina's smirking face as Takashi rambles about unfairness and Hikari is silenced in shock and determination. As similar as her new Genin team is to her old one, they are not the same, and she is thankful for it.

Despite the many similarities that bring feelings of nostalgia back to her, it is the differences that will allow her to move on from the past and hope for a different future.

* * *

 **"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."**  - Albert Einstein


	9. Arc I, Childhood: Of Helping Hands

When Tenten wakes up at six the next morning, there is a gut-wrenching feeling settling in her stomach as she goes about snagging breakfast and going through her warm-up exercises in preparation for Kushina's test. The routine is familiar and safe: she darts around her room gathering storage scrolls for her weapons, kunai and shuriken holsters, sealing tags for explosions and paralysis, and ration bars... just in case.

Tenten ties her hair up, thinking about her new team. Now that she sees the likenesses to her old one, she knows she was too quick to dismiss her team from assault possibilities. If anything, it is likely that their specialization will also be short to mid-range assault, though she isn't sure about Kushina nor Takashi's close-quarters combat abilities.

As she pulls on black leggings and ninja sandals, her thoughts turn to her teammates, curious as they are. She finds them so similar to Neji and Lee, yet completely different in almost every way.

Even as a comrade and friend of Hinata, Tenten is still caught off guard by any display of emotion that comes from a Hyuuga, especially after meeting Hinata's father and Neji's uncle, Hiashi-sama. Hikari possesses an inner fire that is not guarded so closely, and from what she can see it is due largely to the metaphorical shackles the Hyuuga girl wears that bind her to her clan.

Tenten's lip curls at the irony, wrestling a long-sleeved mesh undershirt over her head and zipping up her sleeveless jacket. Neji used to gripe about being caged and unable to fly, but how much worse would it be if you were tied to the ground, given enough leeway to grasp the smallest taste of freedom... only to be pulled back to your prison? In many ways, Tenten thinks Hikari has it worse, especially being a female Main Branch Hyuuga. There is no seal marking her skin, but the prison cell lies in an even more vulnerable place: under the skin and engraved in the soul.

Tenten sighs, her thoughts turning to her other teammate. Despite her thoughts the previous day, it is admittedly unfair to peg Takashi as Lee's predecessor. Not only is her new teammate eons less exuberant and enthusiastic, there are no mentions of any flames of youth - the role of Lee's predecessor is and forever will be given to Maito Gai. Her heart squeezes painfully at the thought of the loud Jonin, and she ignores the feeling by pulling on her long, armored gloves.

 _He is safe,_  Tenten reminds herself, slipping on her sandals and strapping on her gear.  _He won't have to die this time._  Even so, the words do nothing to stop the phantom feeling of her sensei's blood spilling over her.

She clenches her hands around her hitai-ate, mouth set in a determined line. "You're not going to die this time, Gai-sensei. Not you, not Asuma-sensei, not Hokage-sama, not Jiraiya-sama, not  _anyone_." With that, she brings the metal plate to her forehead and ties it around her hair, leaping out of the window.

* * *

She arrives precisely on time, seven on the dot, and finds the rest of her team already waiting. Kushina looks up at her approach and gives her a smile, but says nothing more as she stands up from her seat on the ground. Takashi murmurs a greeting that Tenten echoes, but Hikari remains silent, eyes turned towards the redhead.

"Alright you three," Kushina grins, "We're gonna be doing a special kind of training exercise for today, something I like to call... _Post_."

At the rather... mundane name, Tenten blinks owlishly. Having Maito Gai as a former sensei means an astute familiarity with nearly every single type of training exercise known to ninja-kind, but this Post exercise isn't ringing any bells.

" _Post_?" Hikari repeats, rather puzzled.

"Heh, just follow me." Kushina smirks, leaping off into the direction of the forest, and all Tenten can do is shrug her shoulders when she meets her teammate's equally confused looks, the trio quickly leaping after Kushina.

When they catch up, they find Kushina standing at the edge a clearing packed with wooden posts, just wide enough for one person to stand on, with other posts scattered amongst the surrounding dense forest. The posts range in height and proximity, and in Tenten's eyes, Kushina is channeling Gai as she looks all too eager for the exercise.

"Welcome to Training Ground 6," she says grandly, sweeping an arm to the artificial forest behind her. "Better known as the grounds of the  _Post Wars_."

Tenten scans the area with a practiced eye, noticing the wear of the posts as well as the marks disrupting the wood and the earth. To her trained eye she can see areas of the wood that are splintered and slashed, by chakra or weapons or jutsu, but it takes her longer to notice the lack of treading on the dirt earth. There are plenty of dirt piles, most likely from  _Doton_  jutsu, but all footprints end at the edges of the clearing.

"Our feet can't touch the ground," Tenten realizes, and looks at Kushina for confirmation. "We have to stay on the posts."

"Well." Kushina looks a little disgruntled at being discovered so quickly, but covers it up with a sheepish smile. "You got it, Tenten-chan. First rule of  _Post_ : if any part of your body touches the ground, you're out."

"We're... we're going to be training on top of the poles, aren't we?" Takashi asks, and the redhead gives the boy a thumbs-up.

"Bingo~!" The Jonin winks, settling her hands on her hips. " _Post_  is an exercise designed to test intuition, instinct, battle strategy, balance, and combat skill. As an unorthodox environment, typical combat approaches are nullified or neutralized, allowing individuals to reach beyond traditional strategy to train their instinct and intuition."

"You are asking us to participate in an exercise that takes away our control." Hikari frowns. "Is that wise? Battle tactics and strategy are often what give shinobi advantages in combat."

"I'm not saying tactical prowess or planning are unnecessary, Hikari-chan." Kushina chuckles, patting Hikari's head. Tenten smiles when she sees how the girl looks mildly disgruntled at being treated like a petulant pet. "However, honing instinct in the battlefield is a skill that will save your life; and being forced to forgo tested methods in the face of combat allows you to cultivate the ability to develop strategy on the fly and in the midst of a battle. You won't always have the time to puzzle everything out, and nothing ever goes according to plan anyways."

Hikari frowns, but doesn't object any more.

"Alright," Kushina claps her hands, "The goal of your exercise today is to incapacitate me, through knockout, drawing blood three times, or by making my feet touch the ground."

"So we just have to do one of those things? Piece of cake, sensei," Takashi says, grinning in confidence, but the surprise that overtakes Kushina's face makes him pause.

"You think so, Takashi-kun? Oh... that's right, I forgot to tell you," she muses theatrically, before turning to them again, this time with a feral smirk on her face. "This is an individual exercise - and whoever fails to complete it by sundown will be stripped of their Genin status and sent back to the Academy."

She says it with such ferocity that even Tenten flinches and pales, blanching even further as her expression morphs into a smile. "I'll even be nice and give you some advice: you'll have to come at me with the intent to kill if you want to pass," she remarks casually, as if she is discussing something trivial like the weather.

Tenten is a bit disturbed at Kushina's sudden mood swings, and tries to choose the odder sensei between her and Gai. It makes her shiver as she realizes that she is leaning towards Kushina.

"So let's see what you've got, kiddies!" Kushina bounces in excitement, eyes glinting in anticipation. "Ready, set... go!"

Immediately, Tenten channels chakra to her feet to leap onto one of the shorter posts, vaguely registering Hikari and Takashi copying her movements as she tracks Kushina's path towards the center of the clearing.

When Tenten notices the woman stop on a post, she deems it safe to turn back towards her teammates. Only...

"Well, crap." She blinks at the rapidly retreating backs of the team, each heading in different directions to no doubt plan ambushes, and sighs.

* * *

"How curious," Kushina murmurs to herself, watching her youngest student sit cross-legged on a post, staring right back at the redhead with wide, brown eyes. Kushina turns back to the scroll she is studying, halfheartedly reading the characters as she keeps one eye on the girl.

 _Still just sitting there_ , she notes, and she can't help it when she calls out. "You know I said go, right?"

The clearing isn't too large, so she clearly sees the cock of the head and owlish blinking. "Yes."

She frowns in confusion. "Then what - "

It is only the experience of combat and years of training that allow her to sense the volley of kunai hurtling towards her exposed back, and she neatly rolls to her side, avoiding the wave of weapons and landing in a crouch on a slightly shorter post.

"Nice try, Tenten-chan!" she calls, secretly glad for some kind of action.  _It's about damn time_. Now hyperaware of any incoming attacks, when she sees the kunai wave suddenly jerk and change direction, she is more prepared for the weapons, though she quickly pulls a  _Kawarimi_  to avoid being struck.

The volley of shuriken that meet her take her by surprise, and despite her best efforts to dodge she feels the edge of one shallowly slice through the skin of her forearm, drawing a line of blood.

 _Chakra sensing_ , she thinks, her mind sharp and focused now.  _Only a chakra sensor can track the chakra outreach of the Kawarimi!_

"That's first blood, Kushina-sensei," a young voice says frankly, and she turns to see the figure of Tenten looking back at her with a faint smile.

"Perhaps." Kushina uses her hand to wipe the blood away, the red liquid dripping from her fingers. "But you won't be so lucky next time, Tenten-chan."

The girl opens her mouth to reply, but Kushina's head snaps up at the sound of another volley of kunai, this time from her left side. Expecting the attack as one of Tenten's, she is momentarily surprised when Tenten also makes to dodge - only to have her jaw drop in shock as the tiny girl fails to be fast enough and gets hit.

She nearly jumps towards the wounded girl, but suddenly the girl's form collapses into water, and Kushina frowns.  _Mizu Bunshin? Where did this girl learn a Suiton jutsu?_

Before she can contemplate it, she is forced to dodge the chakra-laden palm strike that nearly catches her from behind, the strike catching her side instead of the intended tenketsu points in her legs.

While she would normally go easy on the girl, she frowns when she notices the one of the Hyuuga's hands filled with another round of kunai.

"Were you the one who threw that last kunai volley?" she questions, and Hikari raises an eyebrow at the slight accusation in Kushina's tone.

"I was," she admits freely, and Kushina has to stop herself from growling lowly.

"And you intentionally aimed to attack your teammate?"

"She could've dodged," comes the unfeeling reply, and Kushina's eyes narrow. "And besides, it was a  _Bunshin_."

Disapproval fills her along with disappointment, but she doesn't have the time to think over the girl's words, because the palm strikes come faster now.

* * *

Tenten winces as she feels her  _Mizu Bunshin_  dissolve, and frowns from her vantage point when she discovers the attacker as Hikari. She watches the girl attack Kushina, and frowns as she realizes that Hikari is trying desperately to score a hit.

The fact that Kushina only dodges doesn't do much to help. As the older woman leaps and weaves and bobs between Hikari's sloppy attacks, the constant movement across the field of uneven posts causes Hikari to second guess herself and stumble at critical moments. The whole situation is made worse because of how Kushina patiently waits for the girl to reorient herself after each near fall - each time this happens Tenten can see the growing frustration and anger on the Hyuuga's face.

When Hikari's foot slips for what seems like the hundredth time, Kushina sighs and begins to reprimand the girl. Tenten can already guess what the lecture is about: Hikari's attacks were centered all around the controlled, practiced techniques of the Hyuuga _Juuken_  - something that unfortunately relied on stances and katas on solid ground. The fact that Hikari is even attempting to use her clan  _taijutsu_  despite this makes Tenten shake her head.

 _If Hikari's really so stubborn, this is going to be difficult,_  Tenten muses,  _but... it'll give me time to find Takashi._  With a last glance at the duo, Tenten sneaks off in the direction of the blonde boy, hoping that her plan will end up working in the end after all.

* * *

When she finds him, Takashi nearly jumps out of his skin when Tenten lands beside him silently, catching the ninja wire coil in his fumbling hands quick enough to avoid setting off the elaborate chain of traps he has set up around the clearing.

"Don't  _do_  that!" he hisses, his heart pounding.

"Sorry, sorry," Tenten apologizes hastily. "Look, I'll be honest. There's no way any of us will get Kushina-sensei by sunset if we keep trying to do things by ourselves. Our best bet is to take her out together."

Takashi sends her a measured look. "You seemed to do pretty well by yourself."

Tenten sighs. "That was more luck than skill and you know it." She doesn't mention how she tracked Kushina's replacement through her chakra outreach, figuring the lie wouldn't hurt.

The boy looks around uncomfortably, fidgeting. "I don't know..."

In exasperation she grabs him by the arm. "Look, I'm not trying to undermine you or anything, okay? Just think about it; there's no way new Genin like us can take on a Jonin one-on-one, even if Kushina-sensei isn't fighting back. All she has to do is exhaust us one by one until time runs out, and she wins."

He studies her, eyes darting over her face, before he sighs in defeat. "It's not like I have anything to lose," he mumbles, grimacing as he ties down the ninja wire and cuts the extra with a spare kunai.

"I've set up a trap chain around the perimeter of the clearing ," Takashi says when he straightens up, stowing the coil in his side pouch. "If Kushina-sensei ends up even a meter into the forest, the traps will trigger one after another."

"Do you have any more supplies?" Tenten asks, and at Takashi's shake of the head she pulls out one of her weapons scrolls, unsealing a stack of exploding tags, ninja wire, and four extra pouches of shuriken and kunai.

"You want me to set up more traps?" Takashi asks in confusion, and Tenten shakes her head.

"Not more traps,  _a trap_ ," she corrects. "I have a plan, but I'll need Hikari's help... How fast are you in setting up trip wires?"

Takashi grins. "Didn't you know? According to Toushi-sensei, I'm the fastest trap-maker to graduate from the Academy since Hokage-sama!"

Tenten raises her eyebrows at the bold declaration, but claps him on the shoulder. "Well, moment of truth, Takashi. Go show sensei what you've got."

Takashi stares at her for a moment, but smirks. "Heh. Let's make it count!"

Tenten smiles as he leaps off, and when Takashi is in position and hidden, she doesn't have to wait long before Hikari makes her retreat from the clearing, thoroughly roughed up and bruised. Glancing at Kushina and reaffirming that the Jonin is still in the clearing, Tenten leaps down from her perch and lands in front of Hikari, who doesn't do much in reaction to her appearance.

"What do you want," the girl growls, and Tenten bares her hands in a show of trust.

"Hey, hey, easy now. All I want is just for the three of us to work together."

"Forget it," Hikari sneers, turning away from her, but Tenten catches her wrist, forcing a hiss from the pale-eyed girl.

"Just hear me out, Hikari. At this point... you've got nothing to lose." The Hyuuga is silent, but Tenten can tell she is listening. She lets go of the girl's wrist, and this time Hikari turns ever so slightly to acknowledge her.

"At this point, you're not in any shape to go after Kushina-sensei alone again, not until sunset at least." At her wince, Tenten continues. "There's a reason we're put into a three-man team, Hikari. If we can figure out some kind of plan to draw Kushina-sensei into a trap, we just might be able to catch her."

"Who will be the one who passes then?" Hikari asks skeptically, folding her battered arms across her chest, but Tenten smiles because she knows she's persuaded the Hyuuga.

"Don't worry about that; we'll figure it out later. Right now, we have a Jonin to take down."

* * *

When a mass of  _Bunshin_  emerge from the trees surrounding the clearing, Kushina is both pleasantly surprised and impressed. Perched on the uneven posts, dozens of copies of Hikari, Takashi, and Tenten surround her, and she can't go much to hide the grin that breaks out on her face.

"So you've decided to team up? Interesting..." She laughs. "Let's get wild!"

With those words, she leaps towards the nearest clone, sending kicks and punches through the bunshin and dispelling the illusions with remarkable speed and precision. Within minutes, over eighty percent of the bunshin are gone, leaving her with three copies of each of her Genin.

"Well?" She raises an eyebrow in challenge, smirking. "Come and get me!"

She is quick to realize that the real Takashi isn't amongst his clones, but when her punch connects she grins.  _So it must be Tenten and Hikari, not all three of them like I thought. What a pity._

She does notice something unusual as she blocks the attacks of both girls. She expects both girls to have different taijutsu styles, Hikari's based in the Juuken and Tenten's grounded in her weapons, but instead the pair seem to be both using  _Juuken_ -based moves, with clear differences.

Hikari's technique, while more refined, is less effective because of her wariness of falling off the posts, whereas Tenten's attacks are more or less a bastardized version of the  _Juuken_. However, the mouse-like girl's movements are more graceful due to her confidence in the unusual environment, targeting not her tenketsu but rather her pressure points, tendons, and ligaments. All in all, it makes an odd yet effective formation, each girl covering the other's weaknesses.

Tenten's familiarity with  _Juuken_ -style attacks triggers a memory of the Hokage's warning, but Kushina tucks the thought away for another time, refocusing on the two girls.

A quick roundhouse kick to one of the Tenten's reveals a water clone, something she expects, but when one of the Hikari's does the same she frowns.  _I didn't think the Hyuuga would allow a Main Branch member to learn elemental techniques... which means...!_

A few more kicks leaves the real Hikari, panting heavily and sweating, with two Tenten's guarding the girl as the Hyuuga catches her breath. One of the Tenten's rushes up to her, quickly disposed of as a splash of water, but Tenten's grin and Hikari's satisfied smile catch her off guard when a shout echoes from... below her?

"Now, Tenten!" a voice yells, and she recognizes it after a moment as Takashi's.

The hesitation costs her. Her eyes widen as Tenten releases a wave of chakra and shouts, " _Katsu_!"

The post she is resting upon suddenly disappears under her feet in an explosion of fire and smoke, and then she is falling.

Despite the trip wires she triggers, and the shuriken and kunai that whiz past her, she allows herself a wide, genuine smile under the cover of the smoke generated by the explosion tags.

 _Hyuuga Hikari, Hirohito Takashi, Tenten... so very, very interesting,_  Kushina thinks with a grin.

As she lands on her feet, her sandals meeting soft dirt, a laugh bubbles from her lips.  _Team 6... passes._

* * *

 **"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."**  - Henry Ford


	10. Arc I, Childhood: To Presume

"You look like hell."

Tenten looks up at Yoshino's deadpan observation, and she can't quite mask the surprise that over comes her. She watches as Tsume drags herself into the small restaurant booth, Kuromaru collapsing at her side.

Ignoring the waitress's disgruntled and disgusted glances at both Tsume's and Kuromaru's singed and bloodied forms, Tenten pushes the yakitori appetizer she ordered in the girl's direction. Both she and Yoshino watch in morbid fascination as the grilled meats disappear in a whole mouthful, Tsume yanking the bamboo skewers out of her mouth in a near-violent fashion. The waitress finally turns away, a green-tinge coloring her cheeks.

"Blame fucking Jibaku Akira," Tsume growls, snatching Yoshino's teacup and guzzling down the contents in one shot. "That  _teme_ doesn't know how to keep a lid on it!" Kuromaru whimpers weakly in agreement.

"What was it this time?" Yoshino asks dryly, peering into her empty cup before signaling the waitress. "Ammonia and bleach? Exploding tags?  _Katon_  and  _Fuuton_  combination?"

"Try all of the above, along with some  _Jibaku Bunshin_ ," Tsume snorts. "Keiichi-sensei said all we had to do was find him, but the asshat just kept blowing shit up 'til there was nothing left!"

"What about Jirou?" Tenten asks, tracking the waitress's movements with a critical eye. She snorts when she realizes how the girl is standing, just close enough for her to push their orders onto the table by the fingertips, and with a wary eye trained on Kuromaru's limp form.

"He fell asleep," Tsume says, rolling her eyes. "Sensei caught him in one of those rope traps and the  _baka_  fell asleep hanging from his ankles. I swear he's the bastard kid of some Nara or something, there's no way anyone else can be so lazy!"

"Don't let Shikaku hear you say that," Yoshino remarks, her lips quirked up into a smile. "He might actually flip a shit."

"Meaning," Tenten syas, a grin growing, "Inoichi will be insulted on his behalf and Shikaku will deem it all too troublesome to care about."

"And Chouza'll drag the two of them home once that prissy bastard gets his ass kicked," Tsume finishes, and the three of them burst into laughter.

"But anyways, you guys passed right?" Tenten bites her lip in worry when Tsume grimaces.

"Barely," the girl admits, reaching down to rub Kuromaru behind the ears. "Sensei almost sent us all back 'cause Akira went all bat-shit crazy and blew up everything 'til there wasn't anything left... that was supposedly Keiichi-sensei's favorite training area, and now it's just a big black smear."

"Sounds like Tenten's test," Yoshino smirks. "They blew up half of their sensei's favorite training ground too."

Tenten sticks her tongue out at the civilian girl, huffing. "We only blew up a fourth of it!"

"And the rest caught on fire by default," Yoshino deadpans. "You nearly caused a forest fire!"

"Yeah well, Kushina-sensei's ' _volunteering_ ' us for the training ground repair team already," Tenten grumbles. "Meaning we're on the same D-rank until everything's fixed, and sensei gets all the money."

"I thought that's illegal."

"It is."

"I thought D-ranks were reassigned to Academy students."

"They were."

Tenten is met by equally quizzical looks before understanding dawns. Yoshino pats her shoulder with a sympathetic look, but Tsume doesn't even bother to hide the pity on her face.

"Damn, that sucks."

"Yes... yes it does." Tenten sighs, not for the first time wishing her sensei was a little less sadistic.

"What sucks?"

"And speak of the devil," Tsume grumbles, glaring at the trio standing next to their table. "What d'you want?"

"Hey, hey," Inoichi says placatingly, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Just tryin' to get to know my fellow Konoha shinobi, no need to get all hostile on me."

"Says the bully," Yoshino remarks coolly, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. The tips of Inoichi's ears turn a light pink, but Tenten is reluctantly impressed at the control Inoichi has over his reactions.

"I'm sorry," he says somewhat uncomfortably, but grins. "But hey, I was young, alright? Insecure and impatient and stuff, y'know? But we're all Genin now so no harm, no foul - "

"That's an unacceptable excuse," Tenten says sharply, pinning him with her gaze. As an orphan, she's had more than her fair share of bullying and teasing in both her lives, and despite her infinite patience she spares none when dealing with cruel bullying, from children and adults alike. "You're supposed to be a Konoha shinobi, part of a village that prides itself on the teamwork and camaraderie of its ninja. For you to stoop so low as to resort to bullying kids to make yourself feel less insecure... maybe you're not cut out to be a ninja after all."

Tenten's words seem to ring through the silence that settles over the six Genin, lingering in the air an masking the din of the restaurant chatter around them. Tsume and Yoshino both wear expressions of agreement, while Inoichi looks paralyzed in shock, Chouza glancing between him and Tenten uneasily.

However, it's Shikaku's reaction that threatens and unsettles her. The Nara's eyes narrow, and a fierce scowl overcomes his features, looking uncharacteristically angry with the expression replacing the lackadaisical one she is accustomed to seeing.

"You don't have the right to say anything," he says lowly, his voice coming out in a snarl. Inoichi whips around to stare at Shikaku, but the spiky-haired boy pays it no attention, his sole focus being Tenten. "So yeah, Inoichi was a jerk, but don't act like you're so high and mighty - I've seen you at the Academy spars. You made it your personal mission to deliver retribution to the kids who tried to push the younger students around, using the excuse of mediated fighting as a form of payback."

It's her turn to be stared at, and Tenten's lips tighten into a thin, hard line. "You don't know what it's like."

"So?" Shikaku shrugs his shoulders carelessly, eyes glittering. "Yeah, those kids were bullies, but they never actually injured anyone past a couple scraped knees or bruises - and besides, if you can't take a couple hits you shouldn't become a ninja anyways."

She grits her teeth, jaw locked. "I gave them what they deserved." She sees Tsume shoot her worried but supportive looks, and feels Yoshino's hand clenched around hers. They know her reasons, and everyone in her graduating class knows too - and there is no way Shikaku can understand, being a year older and being who he is.

Who is he to act like he  _knows_  her?

"Oh?" Now, Shikaku chuckles patronizingly. "You didn't just beat them up,  _Tenten-san_ , you crushed them. You played with them, toyed with them just enough to make it obvious who was superior, and then you destroyed them, bit by bit until there was nothing left. You left them to pick up the pieces, using intimidation and power to break them down."

She doesn't reply, too furious and angry to talk. She can feel Kuromaru rubbing against her legs, trying to comfort her, but the cold rage that fills her overwhelms all her friends' efforts to keep her calm.

"Inoichi may have been a schoolyard bully, but you're something even worse, Tenten." He meets her unflinching gaze with cold, hard eyes. "You're a tyrant."

* * *

Shikaku finishes, feeling vengeful and triumphant. He doesn't have to look to know that Chouza is staring at the ground determinedly, and Inoichi is looking at him with an expression akin to a fish. The growls of the Inuzuka dog and the glares of the two other girls are easily ignored. All that matters is Tenten, the vulnerability he sees in her eyes and the defensiveness that laces her shoulders.

But what she says next is not what he expects.

"Tell me, Shikaku-san," Tenten says, the forced politeness not lost on either of them. "Do you have a father and a mother?"

He is nearly thrown off by the question, but the determined glint in her eyes tells him she is going somewhere with this, and so he plays along. "Yes."

"Their names?"

"Nara Shikano and Nara Makoto."

"You're from the Nara clan, and along with the Yamanaka clan, these two clans are most steadfast allies of the Akimichi clan," Tenten says, and Shikaku can't quite determine where she's going with this. "It's safe to say that as allies of one of Konoha's founding clans, the Nara have become one of the main clans that characterize Konoha, correct?"

"Yes," he bites out, both impatient and frustrated that he can't seem to pinpoint her motives for bringing up his family and friends. "Is there some point to this, or are you just reciting the history lesson for your friends' benefit?"

He earns a dark glare and a pair of matching growls, but a quick look from Tenten quells them. "Just humor me. Being a member of a major clan, not to mention the heir of one, you have a number people you'd count among your close friends, family, and allies... correct?"

"Didn't you just say so?" He raises an eyebrow, half in disbelief and half in amusement. Is this her game?

A sigh is his answer, and Tenten cups her chin in her palm, gazing at him with a cool, calculating look in her eyes. "Say you were injured in the field of battle, wounded to the point of being bedridden for months on end. If given the chance, would those people - friends, family, allies - try to avenge you? Or at the very least, attempt to protect you so such an event doesn't happen again?"

"I'd say that's fairly likely," Shikaku says slowly, his mind starting to make some connections. He needs more to draw further conclusions, but there is an easy fix: baiting Tenten into revealing more. "I'm starting to feel like you're deliberately being obtuse to confuse and annoy me."

"Oh?" He doesn't expect the sardonic curl of her lips. "Let me ask you, what kinds of people live in the red light district?"

"Prostitutes, gamblers, drug dealers, and drunks."

"Textbook answer, Shikaku," Tenten chides, ignoring his dark look. "You forgot the orphans, bastards, working-class citizens, beggars, pick-pockets, thieves, gangs, and loan sharks."

"Alright, those too. Your point?"

"Every single person in the red light district cares only for themselves, not only because they have to but also because they can't afford to worry about someone else," Tenten says with a grim smile on her face, and Shikaku can't help but be uneasy. There is something about the look in her eye that sets alarm bells ringing through his head. "You either survive or die trying - because to do otherwise means you are  _weak_ , and to be weak is to be exploited and killed."

He doesn't say anything in reply, because he just can't imagine a community so desperate and so driven by the sheer will to live. It makes him feel not only inadequate but guilty - for possessing the equivalent of everything to the red light residents' nothing, and still being lazy and unwilling to work hard.

"But the red light district takes care of itself," Tenten continues. "It's every man for themselves, but there's an unwritten rule that they protect their own, not out of obligation or courtesy but out of respect for the will to survive and live."

"That's strangely... honorable." By now Shikaku can guess where Tenten is going with this, but thinking it and hearing it are two different things.

"Is it?" Tenten smiles toothily, "or is it a matter of pride, an unconventional attempt at proving that they are just as good, if not better, than anyone who says otherwise?"

Shikaku begins to understand, just a little, of where Tenten is coming from. The red light district, being of a specific reputation amongst general society, garners a considerable level of scorn and disgust from the supposedly normal populace. There is an obvious adopted superiority in this percentage of the population, determined to deem the residents of the red light district and both inferior and dangerous - essentially likening them to a constantly watched wild animal.

Shikaku sees Tenten's smile widen, and knows that she can see the understanding dawn. Then she says, "Out of the fifty-one graduates of our class, fifty-five percent were from ninja families and thirty-five from prominent civilian families. The remaining ten percent were residents of the red light districts, coincidentally also victims of bullying and abuse during their earlier years at the Academy."

"You're one of them."

Tenten grins, dark and proud. "Yes."

"But you said you live in Nono-san's orphanage."

She quirks an eyebrow at that. "Overlooking your eavesdropping, I do live in the orphanage. But here's the million ryou question, Shikaku:  _where_ , exactly, is the orphanage?"

He opens his mouth to answer, but realizes that he only knows where the civilian orphanage is, not the one housing ninja orphans. "I don't know."

"The orphanage is a five minute walk from the heart of the red light district." She cocks her head, watching him struggle to process the information. "After all, its the only place that will hire underaged workers, with no difficult questions asked."

"You were protecting them," he realizes, and nearly laughs in disbelief at the revelation. "And you were proving your worth."

 _So, so wrong_. She nods shortly in an affirmative, and his lips twist into a bitter smirk.  _Not so much of a genius after all._

Tenten stands, pulling a few coins and bills from her pocket and laying them on the table. "Oddly enough, I'm not that hungry anymore," she says rather calmly, and Shikaku winces. "I'll see you guys later."

She glides past Chouza's still form, stopping in front of Inoichi. Shikaku tenses when Inoichi cannot look Tenten in the eye, but she says simply, "Just think about it." With a fleeting glance at him and a nod to her friends, she disappears out the door.

"Nice going, Nara." One girl, Yoshino if he remembers correctly, gets up and pushes past him, following Tenten out the door. The Inuzuka girl and her ninken make to do the same, but Tsume stops in front of him with a hard, cold look that doesn't match her normally fiery and hot-headed character.

"Genius you may be," she says, staring him down, "But if you try that kind of stunt again I'll personally make sure you live the rest of your life regretting it. That's a promise."

The dog at her side barks at him as well, as if warning him, and he can only watch numbly as the duo vanish through the door as well.

He can't look at Inoichi nor Chouza, who are both silent, and he wishes for not the first time that he isn't so quick to judge.

* * *

 **"Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make - bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake - if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble. Making assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with little or no evidence that shows you are correct, and you can see at once how this can lead to terrible trouble."**  - Lemony Snicket,  _The Austere Academy_


	11. Arc I, Childhood: To Push

Tenten watches with calculating eyes, following the paths of arms and legs through dirt and dust. The two opponents she observes are as different as day and night, in body and in spirit, and although she knows that one is perceived to be stronger than the other, the opposite is true.

She winces as a chakra-laden hand glances a torso, watching disappointedly as the fight ends in less than five swift palm strikes.

"Dead," proclaims Hikari triumphantly, Byakugan blazing at the eagle-spread form of Takashi sprawled on the ground, with a hand aimed right at his heart. The knee planted in the boy's gut forces him to take painfully shallow breaths, but the Hyuuga girl doesn't move until Kushina-sensei calls off the spar, something that makes Tenten's mouth tighten in disapproval.

"I think kneeing me in the solar plexus was a bit unnecessary," Takashi wheezes as he sits up with a wince, coughing slightly. "I was already on the ground..."

Hikari doesn't bother even gracing him with a reply, and this time Tenten sees even Kushina frown at the girl's rudeness.

"And here I thought the Hyuuga were supposed to be Konoha's equivalent of aristocracy," Tenten murmurs, just loud enough for Hikari to hear. "So much for that heralded politeness of the main branch." She sees the reaction to her words - clenched fists, tensed shoulders and arms - and scoffs in disgust.

"While I don't necessarily agree with Tenten's wording," Kushina says with a stern glance to Tenten, who ducks her head with reddened cheeks, "Your attitude is causing a detrimental impact to our team dynamic, Hikari."

Hikari snorts imperceptibly, and says, "We are not a team, Kushina-sensei." She bluntly ignores Kushina's reprimand, prompting Takashi to raise an eyebrow and making the scowl on Tenten's face deepen. "A team implies equals, and instead I am placed with civilian brat and a no-name orphan."

"Oi, watch yourself, Hyuuga," Tenten snarls.  _Forget Neji and Hinata,_  she thinks with a growl.  _She deserves a good smack-down, a la Uzumaki Naruto._

"I don't take orders from losers," Hikari bites out, and suddenly Tenten sees another long-haired Hyuuga speaking the same words, only from a face framed by coffee-colored hair instead of indigo purple.

"Funny," Kushina interrupts dryly, "because the only loser I see here is you, Hikari."

The Hyuuga girl's eyes narrow, eyes lit in fury and disdain as they meet Kushina's own. "I am a member of the main branch of the Hyuuga clan," she spats out, almost bitterly. "I deserve more than two nobodies for teammates and a useless sensei!"

"And I think you're more than entitled to an attitude adjustment every once in a while," Tenten mutters with a low snort, her snark making Takashi muffle his laughter under the guise of coughing. What she doesn't expect is the way Hikari whirls around, catching a furious white glare before she dodges from pure instinct alone.

 _"I'm so damn sick of you!"_  Hikari's shout is so out of character that Tenten barely manages to block the palm strikes to her arms, leaping back to distance herself from the angry Hyuuga. "I'm sick of your constant sarcasm and your stupid weapons and your dumb hairstyle and everything about you! All you do is talk big and act like you're the best, and I'm so sick and tired of everyone saying  _you're better than me!_ "

Tenten notices Kushina hold back Takashi with a cool glint in her eyes, and the Genin understands what Kushina is trying to do. _After all, Naruto was the same way,_  she muses, weaving between Hikari's close-combat attacks and constantly moving out of offensive range.

_Who needs words when your fists can do the talking for you?_

"You're a no-name loser, and I'm a Hyuuga!" Hikari yells, her voice breaking. Tenten can see the girl is struggling to hold in her anger, her movements getting sloppier and her expression becoming more and more desperate. " _I'm_  supposed to be the best kunoichi in our class! It's supposed to be me, not you!"

The opportunity is too perfect for Tenten to ignore, and so she can't help but say, "Perhaps your memory isn't as sharp as it should be, but I wasn't first, you know." She keeps her eyes trained on Hikari's frustrated face, watching the girl slowly begin crumpling into tears.

"I was second... behind  _you_ , might I add."

The bitter smile that graces her noble, aristocratic features twists Hikari's face into an ugly grimace. The strikes are half-hearted now, and Tenten deliberately slows her pace to match Hikari's increasingly sluggish one.

"But that's not what Toushi-sensei said," Hikari grits through her clenched jaw. "He said you were the best shinobi in the class... he said that you should've been first." Tenten is surprised at this, but Hikari glares through her tears and starts attacking with a newfound fury as she spats out her next words like poison.

"He said it was a  _damn shame_  that he couldn't give an orphan the Rookie of the Year Award just because the Hyuuga girl could recite  _textbooks_  by heart!"

"I think that's enough," Kushina's voice interrupts, and like a puppet without a master Hikari just drops to the ground, staring into the ground with tears running down her pale cheeks and self-loathing painted on her features.

* * *

Kushina sighs, running a hand through her red hair as she assesses the three Genin in front of her.  _A clan child, a civilian, an orphan, and a refugee_ , she thinks with a humorless chuckle.  _What a motley bunch we make..._

"I don't know what to do with you three," she says, ignoring the bitter sting of her pride. The admission, which has been coming for months now, hurts Kushina a little more than it should, but the shame she feels at her failure makes her think she deserves it. For the past five months she has tried her best, but it was as Uzumaki Mito once told her.

_Your teacher can open the door, but you must enter yourself._

It wasn't like she hadn't tried. Tree walking, water walking, and chakra exercises were all taught and mastered quickly, but when it came to her specialties of chakra manipulation, ninjutsu, and fuuinjutsu, only Tenten seemed to take her teachings to heart. Takashi at least was using the fuuinjutsu lessons to build upon his own skills, but Kushina had to almost force Hikari to use the elemental chakra paper. It was even more disappointing when she discovered that Hikari's chakra was most attuned to water, her main elemental affinity, because despite her best efforts Hikari refused to even attempt even the exercises for water-natured chakra, let alone Suiton ninjutsu.

"Takashi." The boy looks up with surprise. "In my opinion, you're the best member of this team. Not," she is quick to add, making the bright look on his face fade, "because you are the strongest or fastest or most skilled, but because you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and you adapt yourself to work as support to Hikari and Tenten's more offensive capabilities... And that's your problem."

Takashi, who was smiling slightly under her praise, now looks confused and embarrassed. "My... problem?"

"You've settled," Kushina says bluntly. "You've accepted your role as backup and defensive support, and in doing so you've done nothing to prove to me that you want that dream of yours. You want to lead an ANBU division? With the way you're going, you'll be lucky to make it to Chunin."

The spark of anger she sees in his eyes makes her smile in satisfaction on the inside. "I'm a stealth and evasion specialist," he says rather bitingly. "Support is kind of what my specialty demands."

"What will you do if, by chance, both Hikari and Tenten are unable to fight and you are tasked with defeating your opponent?" Kushina questions. "Your evasion and support skills are impressive for your age, but when it comes to direct defensive maneuvers or offensive attacks, your skills have not improved since being placed on my team. I've given you the tools to improve your combat abilities - I've offered to teach you new taijutsu styles, offensive Doton ninjutsu - and yet you've accepted these opportunities half-heartedly. If I had to choose, I would rather have a well-rounded generalist be my support than a specialist who can only handle certain situations." Takashi's grim look shows he understands what Kushina is telling him.

_Improve or you'll be replaced._

"Hikari." Kushina turns to Hyuuga, who has dried her tears and schooled her face into a mask of expressionlessness. "You are the most lacking member of our team, because of your stubbornness and arrogance."

"Hyuuga or not, I will say this: you are currently our weakest team member, not because you are unskilled but because you are predictable." Kushina stares the girl in the eye as she says this, knowing that the looming war makes Hikari even more of a target. "The Juuken has remained largely the same since the founding of Konoha, but our enemies' knowledge of how the Byakugan operates has grown to the point where one can beat the Juuken if taught to exploit its weaknesses."

"The Juuken has no weakness," Hikari scowls. "The Byakugan can see everything!"

"Truly?" Kushina raises an eyebrow. "Then how is it that Tenten manages to beat you in every spar? You never do manage to hit me during out Post exercises, and Takashi could win all your spars through mere evasion if he had better stamina."

Hikari's mouth is a tight line, and Kushina takes this as consent to continue. "You, like Takashi, are a specialist, but unlike him, you rely solely on your taijutsu forms to carry you through a fight. You have an immensely strong water affinity and a sensei who is proficient in Suiton ninjutsu, but you ignore the opportunity to improve your skill set with an arrogance that I can't say I've seen in the other Hyuuga clan members I know. Perhaps you have other skills I am unaware of - but without incorporating them into your more generalized skill set, you might as well not have them at all."

Yet, the stubborn glint in Hikari's eyes still remains, and Kushina wishes she doesn't have to reveal what she is about to say.

"As of now, you have two options, Hikari. Change yourself and improve so you will survive..." Kushina's thoughts turn back to memories of a girl stolen away in the dark of night, powerless to do anything but wish and hope and pray for someone to come to her rescue, and she can't hide her sorrowful expression. "... Or remain stubborn and suffer a fate worse than death."

"Such as?"

Hikari's disdainful expression suddenly makes Kushina furious, and she says bitterly, "When you're captured by enemy nin, you won't just be tortured or interrogated... they want more than information, they want your bloodline - and it doesn't matter if your mind is broken."

There is a sharp inhale from her Genin, but Kushina is too angry to stop and think before the words pour from her mouth, admitting the fears that plagued her for months after her capture by Kumo ninja. "If you're captured, all you will know is life strapped down to a table, raped and impregnated over and over until your body can't handle anymore childbirths... and it is only then that you will receive mercy in death."

Hikari's pale, white expression stares back at her in horror, and Takashi looks queasy to the point of being sick. She wishes she didn't have to say it, but despite being children her Genin are still shinobi, and reality away from the glamor of the civilian and Academy misconception is cruel and unforgiving. A look towards Tenten shows carefully controlled fury and disgust instead of shocked horror, and Kushina not for the first time wonders how someone who is so young is also so jaded. She sighs.

"And finally, Tenten." The bun-haired girl merely stares back at Kushina, and the red-haired woman only shakes her head. "You're what I want Takashi and Hikari to be: generalists with a specialty in certain fields. Skill-wise, you're on the mark, but your problem stems from your need to compensate for your teammates' weaknesses."

Tenten frowns at this, and Kushina elaborates. "Your proficiency in your skills prevent both Takashi and Hikari from making errors that will force them to improve, so to speak. While I have no complaints about your drive or will, you need to make sure you improve with the other members of your team."

"I understand," is the quiet response, and all Kushina can do is sigh.

"No, I don't think you do. The worst thing you can do as part of a team is to hide the full extent of your abilities. And since the very first day on this team, Tenten, you've held back." The shocked look in Takashi's face and Hikari's bitter eyes cause a guilty look to surface on Tenten's features. "You are capable of so much more than what you show during these team meetings, and not only does withholding your full skills handicap you, it poses a danger to the entire team in the case of unexpected battle situations."

"You three are one, cohesive unit, but at this point all you're doing is pushing each other away until this team self-destructs." She rubs her temple tiredly. "The three of you never train together outside of mandating team training times, and when you do, you end up either training by yourselves or," she looks at Tenten pointedly, "with people who aren't even part of this team."

"I'm giving you until tomorrow to decide whether you three are willing to stay as a team, otherwise I'm dissolving Team 6 and sending you three into the Genin Reserves."

And with that, Kushina turns on her heel and leaves.

* * *

Hiruzen looks up from his crystal ball as Kushina appears in a whirlwind of leaves, raising an eyebrow at the woman's rather frustrated expression. "That was rather harsh, I think."

Kushina's low snort is his only answer, as she drapes herself over a sofa and closes her eyes. "They need it. It's been close to five months since they've become a team and their last C-rank was a disaster, not to mention the war that's creeping up on us... It's either do or die now."

"Perhaps." He peers back into the crystal's surface, watching with no small amount of amusement as three figures slowly begin to talk. "But the Kumo reference hit a bit too close to home."

Kushina exhaled noisily. "The Hyuuga girl is too naive if she thinks she's invincible. She needs to change before its too late."

"Your abduction wasn't your fault, Kushina." Hiruzen stares at the woman with sad eyes, knowing that she still blames herself for her weaknesses that night five years ago.

"Mm," she hums noncommittally. "Whatever you say, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen studies the brown-haired girl in the image of the glass, knowing already that she is the one bridging the Hyuuga girl and the civilian boy together. It is a natural role, he observes, and he looks back at Kushina.

"How are things with Tenten?"

"She's fine, just like she was fine the hundred times you asked me before." Kushina huffs, sitting up and pinning him with her tired gaze. "Is my word not good enough anymore?"

"Your word isn't the only one I must consider," he replies with a sigh. "You know what I am wary of."

Kushina's exasperated look vanishes with a grimace. "A spy from Kumo?"

"If only it were that easy." Hiruzen takes his pipe from his desk and places it in his mouth, lighting the tobacco with a small fire jutsu trick. "I believe her familiarity with the Juuken comes from her association with the shinobi orphanage she lives in... the one run by a retired ROOT medic-nin called Yakushi Nono-san."

Kushina stiffens. "She's a spy... for Danzou?"

"It's a possibility," Hiruzen says grimly, "that she is an agent meant to keep tabs on you."

"Because of the furball... isn't it?" Kushina already knows the answer as she slumps against the back of the sofa with a tired sigh.

"Yes."

"I don't think she's one of Danzou's." Kushina turns her head to peek at Hiruzen from behind a curtain of red hair. "She has too much personality, too much life... definitely not one of the emotionally dead ones, unless Danzou finally grew a heart."

"Even more unlikely," Hiruzen says with a chuckle, prompting a smile out of Kushina. "As it is, Tenten hasn't had much interaction with the rest of her orphanage companions, preferring the company of a civilian-born girl and Inuzuka Tsume."

"That's an easy one, they're best friends," Kushina says simply. "Mikoto and I are like that now, in fact."

Hiruzen hums in response, his glance in the crystal ball making him smile. "Looks like you'll be stuck with a Genin team after all," he comments with a dry voice, "because your team looks like they're a team again."

"Took them long enough," snorts Kushina, standing up and brushing the lint from her legs. "Alright, I'm off - don't wait up for me. And I'll keep an eye on Tenten, Hokage-sama, don't worry..."

With a jaunty salute, Kushina left in a swirl of leaves, leaving Hiruzen to stare at the greenery decorating the floor. A hand involuntarily finds its way to the pendant hanging from his neck, and he sighs as he thinks back to Tenten and her loyalties.

* * *

 **"They needed the push."**  ~ Nick Fury, The Avengers (2012)


	12. Arc I, Childhood: To Pull

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: Spoilers for last... erm, 50-ish chapters of the manga? Don't say I didn't warn you.

"So, how about we start off with something a bit different today?" Kushina cocks her head, looking at each of them momentarily before her gaze settles on Tenten. "We're going to have a little demonstration, given by Tenten here."

"Excuse me?" Tenten sits up in surprise. "I don't remember volunteering for that."

Kushina raises an eyebrow, looking every bit unconvinced by her act of cluelessness. "No more secrets, remember? Or was yesterday just an act?"

Tenten flushes under the hidden reprimand, biting her lip worriedly. She isn't so naive as to believe this is a mere exercise to unite her with her team - the resolute look in Kushina's eyes make it obvious that there is something else going on, something much more serious than a simple sharing of skills between teammates.

Takashi mistakes her hesitance for nerves, and tries to laugh reassuringly, clapping a hand on her back. "Oh c'mon, Tenten. It's not like we're going to hate you for holding out on us or anything."

"Of course not." Tenten forces herself to smile.  _Well, Hikari might_ , she thinks sardonically, glancing quickly at the Hyuuga girl's deceptively calm form. After the previous day's explosion, Tenten doesn't trust herself to read her female teammate accurately - she knows that this entire time she has been seeing a ghost of Neji and Hinata instead of Hikari herself, and it is a mistake that has been arising more and more recently.

Looking back at Kushina's expectant features again, she feels the gut-wrenching feeling come back to her throat, and now she is _positive_  there is another reason Kushina is asking this of her.

"Alright," she manages to say steadily. "Anything you want to see first?"

"How about taijutsu - your personal style and influences?" Kushina chooses immediately, and the addition to the end of her sentence nearly makes Tenten wince. Spending a lifetime training with taijutsu specialists, specifically a  _Juuken_  prodigy and two _Gouken_  practitioners, meant choosing styles that complemented those of her teammates. Both the  _Juuken_  and  _Gouken_  were derived from older styles that were meant to cancel each other, and so Tenten had chosen to learn a style that managed to balance the two extremes.

Before, her odd taijutsu styles were easily explained through her teammates, but she should've realized earlier that she has no such excuses here.

"I use two types of taijutsu," she begins, making Kushina blink in surprise. "One is adapted to be used in hand-to-hand combat, whereas the other revolves around the use of weaponry."

"Weaponry?" Takashi echoes in curiosity, and this time even Hikari leans in slightly. "Like  _katana_  or  _chokuto_?"

"Kind of." Tenten pulls a scroll from her hip pouch, unraveling it as she smears a line of blood across the sealing scripts crammed across the paper. In a burst of smoke, she watches as the rain of metal and steel fall around her in a perfect circle.

"Impressive." Kushina lets out a low whistle, her eyes falling on a set of  _tegaki-shuko_  - a weapon not often used because of its notorious difficultly. The tiger claws are pristine and sharpened, and the leather worn yet well-oiled, and Kushina nods in approval.

Both Hikari and Takashi are looking at the array of weaponry with no little amount of fascination, Hikari in particular. Tenten watches as the Hyuuga girl reaches towards a  _naginata_  - a long staff topped with wide blades, a weapon that happens to be one of Tenten's favorites - and chuckles when Hikari hisses and yanks back her hand when the pole weapon shocks her.

"Weaponry is a large part in a lesser-known taijutsu style called  _Ryuukyuu kobujutsu_. Since it's an old style that utilizes older weapons like  _sai_  and  _surujin_ , I've tried my best to incorporate modern weapons into the style as well." Tenten looks pointedly towards the tiger claws that caught Kushina's attention earlier. "Each of the weapons are marked with chakra seals that allow only certain people to use the weapons - in this case, me."

"A lot of your weapons vary in range," Kushina notes, her eyes darting over all the weapons as if trying to memorize them all. Tenten has to suppress a chuckle at the frown that begins to develop in her sensei's brow - she knows that things like  _tonfa_  and _nunchaku_  and  _kama_  are seemingly common in Kushina's eyes, looking very much like everyday tools instead of shinobi weaponry.

There is a smug, eager part of her that can't wait to prove her sensei's assumptions wrong.

"Different enemies have different ranges," Tenten says simply. "A short-range specialist can be dealt with by using a  _kusari-gama_ , or a  _manriki-gusari_. Long-range specialists can be incapacitated with  _chokuto_  or  _bo_ , and mid-range specialists are easily beaten with variable-range weapons like standard  _kunai_  or  _kama_."

"And your other taijutsu style?" Kushina asks abruptly, impatience lacing her voice ever so slightly. Tenten manages to crack a small smile at the so very Naruto-like trait, but she chooses her next words very carefully.

"Look, I'm an orphan, okay?" she says frankly, and she inwardly grins when her blunt statement has the desired effect - Kushina's face softens by a fraction, and she continues. "The only taijutsu style I've been formally taught is the Konoha  _Gojuu-ryuu_ , but that's practically useless if you're going up against a Hyuuga or an Inuzuka. I taught myself something called  _Bokushingu_ , a taijutsu style that fell out of practice during the First War."

"But I'm curious." Tenten smiles wryly at the red-head, her voice dropping low. She knows what she's about to do is dangerous and stupid and immensely idiotic, but suspicion will only make her life harder and harder, especially with the war looming over all their heads. She has to dispel the suspicion and the distrust as quickly as she can.

"All these questions, this interest... all you want to know why it looks so similar to  _Juuken_ , right?" Tenten cocks her head to the side. "So what are you hiding? Why all the smoke and games...  _Kushina-sensei_?"

Kushina stiffens slightly at the accusation, masked under a lighthearted tone and an innocent smile, and Tenten can't help but note the slight twitch of the Jounin's fingers, sensing the shock of chakra gathering at the woman's fingertips. The red-headed woman stares back at her resolutely, grey eyes narrowed.

"Sen... sei...!" comes Hikari's choking voice, and Tenten spares a look at her other two teammates. The tension is obvious, heavy in the air like a blanket, and Tenten realizes that her killing intent is lacing the air. She quickly cuts herself off, and with some measure of guilt waits as Hikari and Takashi take gasping gulps of air.

"Like you said, Tenten, I'm curious," Kushina replies quietly. "You know an awful lot for a mere orphan, especially one that pops up out of nowhere."

To this, Tenten has a prepared answer. "I'm a red-light child," she says simply. "I wasn't supposed to exist in the first place." It's enough of the truth to mask her lie, and when Kushina shows no sign of suspicion, Tenten exhales slowly.

" _Bokushingu_  takes its movements from the attacking techniques and defensive tactics of different animals. Movements that are part of saru katas have a distinct similarity to the  _Juuken_  only because  _Bokushingu_  sarudo was developed alongside another style called  _Hakke-tenohira_ , the precursor to a lot of Hyuuga techniques, but in particular the -"

" _Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou_." This time, Hikari is the one to interrupt, and she looks at Tenten with a new wariness in her eyes. "One of the main attacks of the  _Juuken_  style."

"Exactly." Tenten turns to Kushina with a long, measured look. "Satisfied I'm not some kind of spy now?"

"I'll have to do some digging with the taijutsu specialists I know, but... yes." Kushina sighs, the chakra in her fingers dissapating slowly with a faint crackle. "I'm sorry, Tenten, but with the things going on..."

"I get it." Tenten offers her sensei an easy smile. "No harm, no foul, right?"

Kushina gives her a bright grin in return, and Tenten inwardly heaves a sigh of relief.  _Oh thank Izanami-no-Kami-sama._

"But that doesn't mean you're done sharing!" Kushina interrupts her thoughts with a sing-song voice, and Tenten groans.

" _Seriously_?" At the look on Kushina's face, Tenten can only grumble under her breath as she reaches down for a yari, preparing herself for a hard afternoon.

* * *

For all the jutsu and techniques in the world, true time travel was, and still is, out of mortal reach. Over the years Tenten has lived in her new life, none of the research she has done has proved fruitful - and the prospect of being the first true time jumper has her nerves working in overtime.

Tenten likes to think of herself as a smart girl, but intelligence is nothing in the face of what logically  _should_  be an impossibility. She doesn't know if she's playing the part of a person out of time, if she's in a parallel universe, if she doesn't exist in the future anymore, if her trip through time was supposed to happen - or any of numerous other possibilities, and her fears of changing too much or doing too little grow and grow day by day.

For that very reason, Tenten hadn't done much to change what seems to be routine in Konoha. Her close friendship with Tsume and Yoshino hasn't seem to have done anything to rock the boat, and her entrance into the ninja ranks fell unnoticed for the most part, expect for the attention garnered from being the second best kunoichi of the year. For all the opportunities Tenten has been given though her abrupt second chance at life, there aren't many things that have changed significantly, at least not to her eyes.

Despite her fears of meddling with time, that doesn't mean that she doesn't have plans - on the contrary, she has too many to count.

Her plans revolve mostly around saving the lives of her friends -  _former friends_ , she reminds herself - and ensuring that their lives are better than they were before. Plans like saving Uzumaki Kushina, uniting the Hyuuga under the twins Hiashi and Hizashi, preventing Hatake Sakumo's suicide, preventing the Akatsuki's formation, preventing the Uchiha massacre, killing the snake-bastard Orochimaru, killing the thrice-damned Kabuto, killing war-the mongering Danzou...

But above all, at the top of her list is the plan to kill those  _ **fucking Uchihas**_  - Obito and Madara - and thus eliminating the roots of all their future problems. The execution part of it all worries her a little, but she figures she can work out the fine details later.

Right now, the only surefire requirement for success is Tenten herself - her knowledge, her strength, and her determination to prevent a terrible future from coming to pass.

And so when she 'shows' her skills to her team, despite the slack-jawed looks she gets from her teammates and the impressed smile of her sensei, she hides things like her proficiency with chakra strings, her secondary affinity for water ninjutsu, her secret interest in fuuinjutsu, and her terrifying ability for genjutsu. She needs all the advantages she can get, because she knows that if she succeeds with her plans there is the high chance that she will be killed in the process.

No, her death won't happen by Orochimaru, or Kabuto, or Danzou, or Obito, or even Madara. It will happen by her friends, her teammates, her sensei, her comrades - all because of the one single, most important part of her plans.

They don't know what she knows - that these people will mean the end of Konoha as the world knows it. They won't see a power-hungry traitor, a morally twisted spy, a dead-defiling war-monger, or an insane murderer hell-bent on revenge, the way she sees them.

All they will see is a beloved teammate, a cherished son, a respected elder, and a fun-loving friend - and instead, she will become the twisted traitor, the insane murderer, and she will be the one hunted in their stead. The idea of it frightens her beyond belief, because regardless of all her skills and her plans and her knowledge, she is really still only twelve years old and she is still afraid.

The thing is, it isn't the prospect of death that scares her - it is the hatred that she fears the most.

* * *

Silently tracking the elderly man, a figure drops down to the damp earth with a soft thump, bowing his head in a show of servitude. "R-005132, covering assignment P-002067."

"Report."

The darkly-clad shinobi kneeling at his feet bends forward to offer a red-bound scroll, and he takes it while hiding his surprise. Red is usually reserved for clan children, not nameless orphans.  _Interesting_.

"Target G-007124, aged twelve years of age, residing at the Konoha Orphanage, is classified under rank A24," says the shinobi robotically. "Target shows high Chunnin-rank proficiency in taijutsu, weaponry handling, chakra control, stealth, and support. High Genin to low Chunin-rank proficiencies include speed, stamina, and combat strategy. Mid Genin-rank proficiencies consist of genjutsu, ninjutsu, evasion, and trap-making. Target has shown considerable affinity and interest in the usage of chakra strings and fuuinjutsu."

"Such potential," he says softly. "Dismissed."

The masked shinobi bows and disappears into the shadows of the forest, leaving the man to slowly make his way back to the village limits.

"It seems that our  _friend_  has been withholding some information from us," he says quietly, his voice only slightly louder than his soft footfalls on the damp, rain-soaked earth. "Perhaps it is time to pay Nono-san a visit."

His only reply is a rustle of cloth against the dense, wet foliage, and Shimura Danzou turns to continue his daily walk.

* * *

 **"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."**  ~ Sonmi-451,  _Cloud Atlas_  (2012)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The Juuken and the Gouken are translated into "Gentle Fist" and "Strong Fist" respectively, being exact opposites.
> 
> 2\. Ryoukuou Kobujutsu is a real style that is more commonly known as Okinawan kobudou. The story is that the weapons included in the style are derived from farming tools, as the earliest practitioners of this style were farmers and peasants prohibited from possessing traditional weaponry like swords. The majority of Tenten's weapons arsenal is utilized in this style.
> 
> 3\. Bokushingu is the Japanese translation of a Chinese style called Xingyiquan, a fighting style that has similarities to the Baguazhang - the real-world influence for the Juuken. It also uses weapons like the spear (yari), straight sword (chokuto), broadsword (tsurugi), staff (bo), halberd (naginata), needles (senbon), and sickle (kama).
> 
> 4\. Gojuu-ryuu is a variant of karate, translating into "Hard-soft style." It's a fairly general style, perfect for teaching young Academy brats.
> 
> 4\. The weapons listed in Tenten's arsenal are ones that she uses in the actual manga and anime. They include: katana (curved sword), chokuto (straight sword), tegaki-shuko (tiger claws), naginata (halberd), sai (tri-pronged daggers), surujin (weighted rope), tonfa (wooden bars), nunchaku (wood-chain), kama (sickle) , kusari-gama (sickle-chain), manriki-gusari (weighted chain), chokuto (straight sword), bo (staff), kunai (throwing knives), and yari (spear).
> 
> 6\. Others weapons Tenten uses that aren't mentioned in this chapter include senbon (throwing needles), shuriken (throwing stars), makibishi (caltrops), fuuma shuriken (windmill throwing star), tanto (short sword), tekko (brass knuckles), sansetsukon (three section staff), muchi (whip), chigiriki (flail), oyumi (crossbow), tambo (short staff), kaiken (dagger), konbo (club), bow (yumi), arrow (ya), odachi (long sword), nagamaki (long-handled sword), tsurugi (broad sword), and ninja wire.


	13. Arc I, Childhood: For Loyalty

When they drop down behind her, she feels it - the slight displacement of air, the near silent sound of sandals meeting grass, and the barest tremble of the earth at the impact of the landing. The muscles in her legs tense almost imperceptibly, her toes curling unconsciously as she crushes the instinct to spring into a defensive stance.

She doesn't relax, even as the two shinobi behind her stand and do nothing. Her hands go through the motions of wiping down the windows, and in the polished reflection of the glass she sees a figure that makes her knees tremble, just ever so slightly.

"Hello, Fukurou."

A small, bitter smile comes on her lips. "How may I be of service, Danzou-sama?"

"You are impertinent as ever, I see."

"That's your fault, not any of mine." The words are spat out more harshly than she intends, and the next second there is a blade brushing her neck. A glance in the glass shows one of the shinobi behind her, Danzou standing behind the other a little ways behind, watching her.

"So this isn't a pleasure visit, I assume?" she snarks, continuing to wipe the window panes in front of her. Uncaringly, she leans over to reach a corner, letting the sharp edge of the blade bite into the soft skin of her neck. A small movement out of the blade's reach allows a thin trickle of blood to glide down her neck. A quick flare of chakra and the wound closes instantly.

"There is... an issue," Danzou says smoothly, "that requires your expertise. I would like to have your input."

"I thought you said that you had no more use for me," she replies, her eyes narrowing. "Something about my being ill-suited for shinobi life."

She sees Danzou's lips curl into a patronizing smile as he says, "You misunderstand me. There is something... or rather, someone who has caught my interest."

Her voice is flat in response. "You want me to gather information on someone."

"A girl," he clarifies. A careless sweep of his hand and the blade is gone from her person, replaced by a rather innocent looking scroll.

She leaves the cloth on the windowsill, snatching the scroll and unfurling it with a practiced motion, remembering absentmindedly to swipe a little blood on the edge to reveal the writing.  _Danzou-sama was always one of the paranoid ones_ , she chuckled to herself mirthlessly.

A quick scan and she finally turns, facing the man she once thought of as a father, at least until he dropped her like a rusted kunai. She looks at him with raised eyebrows. "A Genin? In  _my_  orphanage?"

"She shows... admirable potential," Danzou says softly, watching her with that same smile. The effect is lost on her though, because she just knows  _better_  and because the calculating look in his eye betrays him. "Unfortunately, she is an unknown. There are too many factors we cannot account for, being surrounded by the people she associates with..."

"And that's why you need me." She scans the scroll again, head snapping up as she looks at him incredulously. "A main branch Hyuuga, an Inuzuka, the heirs of the Yamanaka-Akimichi-Nara alliance? ... and  _Uzumaki Kushina_?"

With a scoff, she rolls up the scroll and tosses it at one of the shinobi at the Root leader's side. As she picks up the cloth, she says, "Loyalty to you regardless, Danzou-sama, I have no wish to die at the hands of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki."

"You forget your place, Fukurou." He steps forwards threateningly, a scowl on his features. "Perhaps you need to be reminded."

She has no time to think before her mouth is on fire, the pain making her eyes roll into the back of her head as she clutches her head against the fire spreading through her nerves. All she knows is pain  _pain fire fire burning dying_  -

"Do we have an accord?" She is on her knees, blood in her mouth from where she bit her tongue and the echoes of pain ringing in her brain.

"Bastard," she spits out, a mix of blood and saliva dribbling from the corners of her mouth.

She feels a hand grip her chin forcibly, yanking her head up to meet Danzou's lone, exposed eye. "Do not force my hand, Fukurou." She meets his stare, managing to hold it for moments before she has to look away with gritted teeth.

"Excellent." Danzou releases his hold, standing upright once more and turning his back to her. "Hebi will be your contact. Do not disappoint me again, Fukurou." He doesn't wait for a reply as he begins to walk away, and she's just so  _angry and hurt and tired_ that she can't help but yell back at him.

"It was nice seeing you again too,  _tou-san_!" She sees the slightest freeze in his shoulders, before he wordlessly vanishes, the two shinobi behind him.

She slumps to the ground, hot and angry tears mixing with warm blood, and wishes for the thousandth time that Fukurou never existed.

She sits there, for who knows how long, until a voice breaks her out from her thoughts. "Ano... Nono-san?"

* * *

When Tenten comes back early from afternoon team practice, she spots a familiar looking figure huddled on the front grass of the orphanage. A closer look and she takes off running, recognizing the matron of the orphanage.

"Ano... Nono-san?" she asks hesitantly, and it is a good thing because with the speed of the woman's reaction Tenten would've been skewered twice over before she could act.

Nono-san looks up, a flash of recognition in her eyes as she looks at Tenten, before slumping, dropping the handful of senbon in her hand back into her apron. She pulls the round glasses off her nose, wiping at her face with her hands. "Aa... Gomen, I didn't recognize you for a moment there..."

"Are you okay?" The words feel plastic as they come out of Tenten's mouth, an artificial and instinctive response, but she doesn't worry about it as she focuses on the tear-stained cheeks and bloody mouth of her caretaker. "Do... you need to go to the hospital?"

Tenten recognizes the pain-clouded eyes, and crouches down to Nono-san's level, pulling a training towel from her hip pouch before offering it to the woman. She knows better than to try and wipe the blood away herself.

"Thank you," Nono-san murmurs, using the cloth to wipe her face clean. "And no, I'll be fine." She starts to rise, Tenten doing the same as she watches warily.

"Did... did someone attack you?" The woman shakes her head in negative, but Tenten can't help but wonder. Tenten can't think of anyone who'd want to attack the caretaker of an orphanage, at least anyone from Konoha anyways. Nevertheless, Nono-san seems to be more emotionally shaken than physically hurt, so Tenten wordlessly gathers up the cleaning supplies from near the window and brings them inside to the kitchen.

Nono-san follows after her moments later, and Tenten has to double take when she sees the woman's had glowing green with healing chakra. A familiar, phantom pain courses through her body like fire for less than a heartbeat, and she bites her lip to keep the discomfort from showing on her face.  _You're not dead_ , she reminds herself.  _You're alive._

She sees Nono-san looking at her with a small measure of curiosity, and curses silently, knowing that the woman caught her grimace.

"Not a fan of  _iryou-jutsu_  then?" Nono-san asks, still wincing a bit. She massages her temples as if she has a headache, and Tenten quietly starts making a pot of green tea. Nono-san nods gratefully at her, and takes a seat at the old table in the center of the room.

"Bad memories," Tenten murmurs, not wanting to elaborate. She likes Nono-san well enough, but she doesn't exactly trust her - there was a different caretaker in her old life, but for all she knew Nono-san could've died in the Kyuubi attack in the original timeline.

"You've fought with a medic-nin, then?" The question is normal, but Tenten can't help but feel like there is something else fueling Nono-san besides polite curiosity.

"Yeah. I'm not a big fan of them," she says dryly, and Nono-san laughs.

"A well-trained medic-nin can be deadlier than a ninjutsu or taijutsu user, you know." Tenten places a mug of tea before the woman, who inhales the smell deeply. "Because they can choose exactly how long it will take for a man to die."

Tenten thinks back to the way the mixture of wind and healing chakra swept through her body, destroying her old body from the inside out. "I can believe that."

She sits across from the woman, and Nono-san graces her with a soft smile. "It seems like only yesterday you were just starting the Academy. You're a Genin now?" Tenten's hand flies up to her hitai-ate at her forehead. She isn't aware of how empty she feels before it sits on her forehead, but now it embraces her like an old friend.

"Hai." Tenten takes a sip of her tea to hide her suspicion, her heart racing. She forces herself to calm down as she exhales slowly, letting her tongue burn on the scalding tea to distract her mind.  _You're being ridiculous. Nono-san is just being friendly._

Nono-san smiles gently. "Do you like your new team?"

Tenten thinks carefully as she speaks, still wary. "They're... nice, I guess. Kind of hard to get along with in the beginning, but... I think we're okay now."

"What team isn't?" The woman chuckles, and Tenten feels the tension beginning to slide out of her bones as she finds herself giggling.

"Was your team like that?" At her question, Tenten sees a flash of something flit across Nono-san's features, but it is gone before she can identify it. The tension comes back.

"Mm... somewhat," she hums noncommittally, smiling slightly. "We didn't know each other, but my teammates and I became really close. Like siblings actually."

Tenten jumps on the opening, trying her best to sound wistful and envious as she says, "So your sensei was like a tou-san... or a kaa-san, right? That must have been nice."

 _There!_  Nono-san's eyes flash again behind her glasses, and time Tenten is attentive enough to see it.  _Bitterness, anger, resentment..._  Nono-san chuckles, "In a way. One of those fathers who... practice tough love, if you want to call it that. He's still like that, even now."

"Aa," Tenten murmurs, storing the information in her mind. "And your teammates?"

This time, Nono-san lets the sadness cross her face like a flag. "Izanami-sama has taken them," she says softly. "They are with Her now."

Tenten's thoughts flitter back to the vague memories she has, of  _Shi no Umi_  and the goddess responsible for her second chance, and softens. "Gomen."

Nono-san just shakes her head. "It was a long time ago."

They sit in silence, drinking tea until the pot is empty, and as she heads towards her room Tenten catches the odd glance thrown at her retreating back.

* * *

When the door is shut behind her, Tenten releases the breath she was holding, and thinks back on the conversation grimly.

_I don't trust her._

* * *

Kushina sighs as she feels her Kage Bunshin dispel, the memories of her clone rushing back to her. She frowns when her mind filters the memory of Danzou and Nono, silently trying to process the conversation as she watches her memory of Tenten and Nono's interaction before entering the orphanage.

She wishes her clone could've gotten closer to actually hear the exchange between Danzou and his ex-student, but she had stayed back in fear of being discovered. Kushina's close had resorted to reading lips, but even in that respect she hadn't discovered much.

She recalls the words her clone managed to decipher, and tries to think what they could mean. There is no mention of her student by name, but Kushina is reluctant to rule out the possibility of Tenten's involvement in Danzou's reasons for visiting Nono. Any other explanation would be too coincidental to be chance.

One more run through the memory, and she catches lips forming the familiar shapes of numerous clan names. Her blood runs cold as she recognizes lips form her own name, and shortly thereafter that of her prisoner.

 _How?_  She nearly staggers in shock, and the way the woman so casually associates Kushina with the Kyuubi is not lost on her.  _Did Danzou tell her?_

She is so lost in her thoughts and fears that she does not see the dark-cloaked figure watching her through the window of her apartment from a nearby roof, watching Kushina leave in a Shunshin before darting away in a blur.

* * *

"It's weird," Tenten muses as she takes a bite of her  _mochi_ , her eyes blank as she is lost in her thoughts. "I mean, Nono-san's always been nice, but she's never... I don't know, acted so  _nosy_  before."

"Maybe you're just imagining it," Yoshino says, furrowing her eyebrows. She motions to the waitress to bring another plate of _oshiruko_ , a sweet red bean soup with tiny mochi pieces. "I mean, Nono-san's just so... so  _nice_. And besides, she's been the caretaker of the orphanage for so long. If she's out to get you, why wait until you're a registered ninja? She would've pulled something years ago."

"I guess," Tenten mutters uneasily. "I dunno, there was just this... vibe I got. Like...  _sakki_ , you know? Killing intent. Not as extreme, but still pretty potent. I mean, she had that feeling around her when she was outside bleeding and crying, and it happened again when I asked about her sensei."

"Maybe something triggered a bad memory?" Tsume frowns, chewing her dango thoughtfully. She is absentmindedly petting Kuromaru, who is sitting under the table and contently eating a bowl of  _amanattou_ , simmered sweet beans. "Pa gets like that sometimes. Ma calls it 'post-traumatic stress disorder,' from the war and all. She says its like getting flashbacks and nightmares about traumatic situations from seeing things like a familiar-looking person, or even things everyday things like flowers or a Chunin vest or a kunai... Maybe her sensei died in the war? Or she was reminded of him by something?"

"Maybe," Tenten says doubtfully. "Although... she did say he was still alive..."

"I can ask my Ma," Tsume offers. "You said Nono-san used a healing justu? Ma was one of the vets for the Inuzuka nin-dogs and other summon animals, she must've run across her a couple times. What's Nono-san's last name again?"

Tenten opens her mouth to reply, but she blinks in confusion. "Huh. That's weird."

"Hm?"

"I don't know, I've never asked."

* * *

_Exits: two windows, one door._

Nono slips into the room silently, eyes cataloguing the room instinctually.  _Weapons: wood from the chairs as clubs, glass from the flower vase and mirror as projectiles, wire from the clothes hangars for strangling, pillows for suffocation, clothing for ropes, perfume water for Suiton ninjutsu -_

She takes a deep breath, stopping herself from going further. Crossing the floor quickly, she coats her hands in healing chakra, wincing as she feels her fingertips melting into themselves. The painful trick, one she developed herself by accident, has the side benefit of erasing her fingerprints and eliminating all secreting glands from her hands - the perfect way to leave no lingering trace, physical or otherwise. Unfortunately, it makes her unable to channel chakra into her fingers, and thus leaves her incapable of performing any handsigns for jutsu.

Carefully pulling open a drawer, she notes the neat arrangement of training clothes, each garment carefully rolled up tightly to take up the least amount of space possible. Some of the rolls are multi-colored, revealing a top and pants set, and part of her is impressed at the girl's practicality.

Closing the drawer, Nono pulls another one open, this time filled with scrolls. Reading the labels quickly, she shuffles through the various storage scrolls, before choosing a random one and trying to open it. She mutters a curse when the scrolls are sealed with both blood and chakra rather than just the latter, and deposits the scroll in its place before rummaging through the other drawers. To her dismay, all she finds are toiletries and spare kunai sets, and an old sketchbook with a few worn drawings of people she doesn't recognize.

She pauses when her eye catches a glimpse of something in the sketchbook, and when she flips the book open she is stunned to see a grotesque image of a snake-man hybrid, wearing familiar-looking round circle glasses and a dark hood. Rendered in black and white, the image sends chills down her spine as she takes in the serpentine features, the hairs on her neck rising when she sees yellow, malicious, crazed eyes staring back at her - the only color on the page.

She stares at the image for moments more, before her eyes are drawn to the bottom of the page. The name -  _it_ has _to be a name_  - makes her mouth run dry and her heart stop.

_Yakushi Kabuto._

The sight of her own last name, next to this... this...  _this monster_ , makes her head spin in confusion and horror and shock.

Yakushi Nono doesn't know what to think as she gently places the book back in the drawer before slipping out of the room, the gruesome image burning itself into her mind again and again as she recalls the sight of her surname, written under the drawing like a brand.

* * *

 **"Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, ut, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with."**  ~Nicolo Machiavelli, _The Prince_


	14. Arc I, Childhood: For Learning

Kushina snickers at Hikari and Tenten's identically deadpan faces, and Takashi's eye is twitching as she saunters towards the food stand.

"Really, sensei? We eat here at least twice a week!" Takashi grumbles. "You could've at least taken us to eat yakiniku or something, geez... Treat us, _my ass._ "

Kushina only chuckles at his mumbling. Their last mission, a low-ranked courier job, marked the one-year anniversary of the formation of Team 6 - and as a celebration for surviving one year as a team Kushina offers promises of delicious food, her treat.

Of course, it's more of a treat to her than to her students, but her little Genin know better than to call her out on her little scheme.

"Yakiniku, really? And let you three eat me out of house and home? No thanks." She smirks at the disgruntled looks of her genin team, plopping down into one of the bar stools. "The usual, Teuchi-san!"

"Coming right up, Kushina-san," the older man says, and as her students place their orders the redhead's smile drops, a hand toying with the folded pamphlets in her pocket.

Running a finger over the glossy, thick paper, she wonders if she is overestimating her students. Or rather, if the Hokage is overestimating them, and in turn, overestimating her.

Kushina's relationship with Sarutobi Hiruzen may be one of easy camaraderie, even ( _dare she say it?_ ) father and daughter - but it doesn't change the fact that what he asks of her is too high. And it's even worse, because the risk of failure that it brings will come at the price of her students.

When Teuchi places her order in front of her, Kushina begins to eat slowly, the flavor of the noodles and broth lost on her as she loses herself in her thoughts.  _War is coming, Kushina... We need a new squad, a better one... and your Genin are the best suited_ , a voice says, the echoes of the Hokage's voice ringing in her head.  _I'm sorry._

Kushina has few memories of the last shinobi war, but she recalls the role of the  _ShoKo-tai_  ninja with no small amount of pity. They were, in essence, the frontmost line of assault, trained to fight in specific combat environments with all the power of a close combat team and the finesse of a tracking/scouting squad - requirements that her personal team of Genin fit perfectly.

Kushina closes her eyes, her bowl of ramen half-eaten in front of her as she looks at the three children next to her. She watches Hikari eat with stately grace, trading sarcastic quips with Tenten, while Takashi keeps score on his dirty napkin.  _Children_ , she thinks sadly,  _because that is all they really are._

There was a saying in her time at the Academy, when she was taught the different types of team formations Konoha utilized - one that made her vow to never be part of the  _ShoKo-tai_ , but the maudlin words play in her head automatically, her memory supplying the sickeningly cheerful tune to the rhyme:

_And the ShoKo-tai, in red and white;_

_Protecting by day, hidden by night._

_But for all they try, for all their might,_

_They are first to die - and first to fight._

"Sensei?" a voice breaks through her daze, and she blinks. A glance at her students shows they are looking at her with varying degrees of concern, their empty dishes already swept away, while her own bowl is still half full, lukewarm and still.

"You're all done then? Let's go," she says, managing to smile, before she pushes her bowl away from her and lays out enough bills for everyone's meal plus a hefty tip. A quick thanks to Teuchi and she's striding away from the stand, her Genin following after her.

* * *

There is something wrong.

Well, not wrong, per say, but there's...  _something_.

It's a gut feeling at first, one that settled in Tenten's stomach earlier in the day, but her unease is heightened when Kushina walks away from the food stand without finishing her bowl of ramen.

Ever since meeting Kushina the day genin squad formations were formed, Tenten had never seen the woman  _not_  finish a bowl - or sometimes, bowls - of ramen. That is, until now.

"Uh, are you guys kinda freaked out too, or is it just me?" Takashi asks, shifting his weight on the balls of his feet. He's nearly vibrating with nervousness and tension, as the the three of them follow Kushina from a distance of at least three body lengths.

"Sensei's nervous," Hikari says, her eyes trained on Kushina's back. "She kept touching something in her pocket during lunch."

Hikari's tone is telling where her face isn't, and Tenten glances at the Hyuuga. "You think she's going to dump us?"

Hikari hums. It's as good of an answer as Tenten will get, but she still knows what her teammate doesn't say.  _I don't know. Maybe._

"Maybe the Hokage wants her on some mission or something?" Takashi speculates, his voice quiet.

Tenten knows Kushina is listening when the lines of her shoulders tense ever so slightly. "Or maybe... maybe it has something to do with us?"

A muscle on the side of Kushina's neck jumps.  _There_.

Takashi and Hikari notice it too, because they both fall silent. Minutes later, Kushina stops in an empty park and turns to face them, her expression indecipherable as she pulls three pamphlets from her pocket, slightly crumpled and worn. The kanji on the thick paper, dark and bold, jump out as Tenten reads the words.

"Sensei, what-?"

"Read it first, Takashi," Kushina says, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Then we can talk."

Tenten's eyes scan the contents of the paper quickly, and the gut-dropping feeling in her stomach doubles in intensity as the words swim in her vision.

_**Name:**  Shoki-sento Machibuse Kogeki-tai (Initial Combat-Ambush Attack Squad)_

_**Purposes:**  Defeat enemy ninja near or within lost territories affiliated/allied with the Fire Nation, hold and defend territory until reinforcements arrive._

_**Specializations:** Primary specializations include close quarters combat, assassination, and ambush. Secondary specializations include scouting, tracking, stealth, trapping, survival, reconnaissance, and basic interrogation._

_**Duties:**  Patrolling the Fire Country's borders under the specific purpose of capturing enemy border posts, destroying enemy camps, eliminating enemy groups near or within Fire Country territory._

_**Training Requirements:**  Specified combat conditioning required for missions in the following terrain environments: arctic (Yuki no Kuni, Mizu no Kuni, Tetsu no Kuni), aquatic (Nami no Kuni, Mizu no Kuni), torrential rain (Ame no Kuni), jungle/forest (Kusa no Kuni, Hi no Kuni, Taki no Kuni), mountain (Tsuchi no Kuni, Kanimari no Kuni), desert (Kaze no Kuni), wetland (Ta no Kuni), and plains (Kusa no Kuni)._

"Heh, I knew you weren't going to give us the boot!" Takashi laughs cheerfully. "Are we finally picking our team specialization, sensei? 'Cause I always thought it'd be pretty awesome if we were one of those stealth specialist teams-"

"Scouting would suit our skills better," Hikari cut in, her voice sharp. "With my Byakugan, Takashi's sensor skills, and Tenten's long-range support, we'd be better suited to a reconnaissance squad, or even a tracking and survival team. "

The Hyuuga girl looks at Kushina closely, and says deliberately, delicately: "Sensei, why did you only give us this pamphlet?"

"Because you're only going to need this one." Kushina's smile is both sad and regretful. "I'm afraid you...  _we_ , don't have much of a choice. As of today? We're officially registered as a  _ShoKo-tai_  squad."

* * *

_I'm sorry._

There is stunned silence on Takashi's face, stoic grimness on Hikari's, and a odd sort of sad acceptance on Tenten's. By the looks of their dazed eyes, they are recounting memories of the morbid rhyme from the Academy - Takashi is even muttering the words to himself out loud, looking paler and paler with each passing moment.

Kushina can't help the feeling of anger bubbling in her stomach at the expressions of her Genin team, and forces the words from her mouth.

" _Shoki-sento machibuse kogeki-tai_ ," Kushina says, her mouth set in a grim line. "As the pamphlet says, initial combat-ambush attack squad, colloquially called  _ShoKo-tai_  amongst the ninja ranks. After the last war, Hokage-sama deactivated all remaining _ShoKo-tai_  squads and distributed squad members to different departments within Konoha's ranks. But with the current... conflicts going on lately, he has deemed it necessary to reactivate the  _ShoKo-tai_  squads."

"If Hokage-sama is reactivating the program, then why us?" Takashi asks quietly, needlessly.  _He knows why._

"He believes that you three are most suited for the role." Kushina closes her eyes, exhaling slowly. "He..."

"He wanted this from the beginning," Tenten interrupts, her eyes darting through blank space, searching through details nobody could see but her. "That's he put us together. That's why you're our sensei... he planned it all along, didn't he?"

Kushina nodded reluctantly. "After the events of the birthday celebrations of Hokage-sama's son, it was obvious that there was something more serious going on than some rogue ninja looking for some quick cash. When he started to pick teams, he put the three of you together not only because your skills complemented each other but also because you all had the potential to be a great  _ShoKo-tai_  squad - potential that he... urged me to bring out and cultivate."

There is a flash of hurt and anger on Hikari's face, and Kushina can see gears twisting in the Hyuuga girl's brain as she hisses, "You knew and you didn't - ?!"

"If I knew, I would've told you," she says blandly.  _I didn't know_. Kushina can't stop the bitterness from leaking through her voice either - realizing she was being played the entire time, by a grandfather-figure nonetheless, cut deeper than she thought it would. "Hokage-sama informed me of the team specialization today."

"So what now?" Tenten asks. Takashi - and Hikari, surprisingly - send the bun-haired girl twin looks of incredulousness at the seemingly nonchalant reaction, but Kushina sees the effect the news has on her last student. Tenten's hand is loose at her side, red under her fingernails and crescent moons in her palms, as the other clenches the crumpled pamphlet in a tight, vice-grip.

The girl smiles wanly, and says, "We're soldiers until we die." The glaze comes over her eyes again, and for what seems like the hundredth time Kushina wonders what causes that look in her student's eyes... the eyes of a mere ( _mere? is that really the word she should use? after that...?_ ) thirteen year old girl. Tenten exhales shakily, and says, "And we're the soldiers of our commander, the Hokage."

It is silent, but then Hikari recovers first, the mask resettling on her features as she murmurs, "It's our duty to fight; to fight until we die..."

"But..." Takashi is now the last, looking between his two female teammates with badly concealed worry - Tenten in turn gives him a soft smile, and Hikari gives him a look of challenge.

Kushina watches on with a twinge of pride as her Genin shuffle closer together, Takashi's fingers brushing against Hikari's wrist, and Tenten's shoulder leaning into her male teammate's arm. Takashi looks at both of them again, and then turns to Kushina.

"So what now?"

Kushina looks at all three of them, silent. Then, she opens the vest pocket of her Jounin vest, pulls out the contents and holds out her palm.

"We start training."

Numbly, she watches each of them take a shiny silver key, and prays.  _I hope you know what you're doing jii-san, or I swear to Izanami-no-Kami herself, I will never forgive you... or myself._

* * *

"You're leaving?"

Tenten spins quickly, seeing Nono-san in the doorway, and smiles.

"Moving out," she says, giving the older woman a wan smile. "Sensei thinks we're better off living closer together than so far apart."

"I thought one of your teammates was a Hyuuga?" Tenten pauses ever so slightly in her packing, before dumping the last of her clothes on her bed and storing it all away with a quick smear of blood and chakra on a blank sealing scroll. "I can't imagine how your sensei convinced them to let your teammate out of the compound..."

"She is," says Tenten casually, moving to her closet. "But sensei's somehow persuaded the clan to allow her some flexibility with living arrangements. Can't imagine how fun that might've been."

"Mm, great fun, I'm sure," Nono-san remarks dryly, laughing lightly as she steps into the room, "Can I help you with anything? Moving out can be quite a hassle sometimes, I've bounced around quite a bit myself before settling here."

"Could you clear out the rest of my drawers?" Tenten calls from inside the closet. "I think I have a few scrolls left in there..."

"Of course." Nono-san replies.

 _Why is she stalling?_ Tenten grabs what little formal clothing she owns and seals it away as well, watching from the corner of her eye as the older woman loads the scrolls into her knapsack. Tossing the filled storage scroll to Nono-san, the woman catches it deftly with a single hand, not even looking as she deposits the scroll with the rest.

"Could I take an apple or two with me?" Tenten asks, catching the matron's eye. "I'm not sure when I'll be able to go shopping for food..."

"Of course," comes the reply, and with one last glance at Nono-san Tenten slips out of the room.

Ducking behind the door, she pulls her chakra into herself slowly, mimicking the decreasing chakra signature of a retreating person, and watches through a crack between the doorframe and the door as Nono-san subtly releases a gentle pulse of chakra.

When the chakra hits her, she closes her eyes and holds her breath.  _Sensor_. She's seen Takashi perform this same technique before, but never to this level - she can barely feel the brush of chakra against her senses, even at such a close proximity.

She has her eyes closed for less than a second or two, at most, but when Tenten opens her eyes, Nono-san is flipping through a familiar sketchbook that causes her gut to clench in panic.

 _Fuck_.

It  _can't_  be the first time. Not with the way Nono-san flips through the pages - the woman has to have looked at her drawings multiple times, and Tenten can't believe she's never caught it.  _I should've sealed it away with the rest..._

Tenten releases her chakra slowly, watching as Nono-san glances at the door quickly before flipping through the pages faster. Tenten darts around the door, to see the matron shove the sketchbook in Tenten's backpack.

"I couldn't find any apples," Tenten says calmly, hoping that her voice isn't as shaky as she feels. "Maybe I'll stop by the market on the way..."

"Ah, the other children must've eaten them all yesterday," Nono-san says with a smile. She turns to close the drawers, and Tenten catches a glimpse of off-white paper behind the woman's hip before Nono-san turns to her with a smile, hands empty.

"I think that's the last of it," she says brightly, smoothing a hand down the fabric of her apron. She settles a hand at her hip, just over an apron pocket, and Tenten's eyes flicker at the action before returning her gaze to Nono-san's smiling face.

"Thank you," Tenten says, and despite her suspicions on the woman's agendas, she means it.

"You're always welcome here, Tenten-chan," Nono-san says, smile gentle, and extends a hand.

Somewhat startled at the distancing gesture, Tenten glances back and forth between the outstretched hand and the matron's face, her mind whirling.  _One... two... three... go!_

"Oomph!" Tenten feels Nono-san take a step back, her spine stiff from the feel of Tenten's arms around her waist. The tension slips away slowly, and soon the taller woman's arms are settled around Tenten's shoulders, patting her head.

"I'll come back to visit," Tenten says into the fabric of the apron. "Between missions, and everything."

Tenten can hear the smile in her voice as Nono-san says, "Take care of yourself, Tenten."

The matron is the first to pull away, giving Tenten another smile and pat on the head before striding out of the room.

Within seconds Tenten scoops up her backpack, and is gone in a rain of leaves.

Nono looks back into the room, now devoid of the brown-haired Genin and her things, before slipping a hand back into her apron pocket.

Feeling textured rough paper under her fingertips, she sighs, pulling out the crumpled wad. Gently, so as not to rip the delicate paper, she pries the ball open, only -

Nono can only stare at the black mess smearing across the wrinkled surface, completely ruining the drawing that was there previously. A small black dot at the edge of the paper catches her eye, and when she smooths out the paper more she sees it - a tiny portion of a seal, one she recognizes from her days in Danzou's ROOT forces.

 _Teiden_ , she thinks. The Blackout Seal is as common as the seals drawn on exploding tags, but there are so many disadvantages in its use that most people never bother to memorize it.

The seal was used most commonly in copies of important documents, most often treaties and contracts, that were meant to be carried by courier ninja between parties. Although it is easy to deactivate - Nono could've done it simply by sending chakra through the seal for thirty seconds - most weren't familiar enough with the seal to recognize it, let alone deactivate it.

If the  _teiden_ , normally placed at the edge of a closed scroll or envelope, was damaged or disrupted in any way, it would wipe the contents of the document clean - or in the case of the seal, black everything out.

For such a minuscule size, it is drawn so precisely that Nono can't help but be impressed - but she as she remembers the seal's function she purses her lips in frustration.

She carefully looks over the paper once more, searching for any salvageable part of the drawing, but everything is ruined. She runs a finger over an area near the bottom center of the page, her finger tracing out words no longer visible.

"Ya-ku-shi," she whispers, drawing the strokes, "Ka-bu-to."

A quick fire jutsu and the paper goes up in smoke. Nono stares at the pile of ashes at her feet before moving to her room, clearing her desk of everything but a blank stack of paper and a pencil.

She closes her eyes, faces and names swimming through her head, and takes a deep breath.

Opening her eyes, she begins to draw.

* * *

Outside, Tenten breathes a sigh of relief, but there is tension thrumming through her body, coiling in her gut like a tightly wound spring.

She runs towards the center of town, too harried to notice the small, thin snake that pokes its head out of her backpack.

* * *

 **"Do something everyday that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."**  ~ Mark Twain

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, I'm sorry for the wait! I originally had this cut off after Kushina's last POV, but I thought I should make a connection with the events of the last chapter, hence the lateness for the chapter this week.
> 
> I've planned Tenten's life up until she's 18 years old in her new world, around four years before the Kyuubi attack. Right now she's around 12, give or take a year, and her teens will mostly consist of her role as an active frontline fighter in the skirmishes along the Fire Nation border before the official start to the Third Shinobi World War. These years will be busy for Tenten, but vital - her role in the past has already started to change things, as slight as they are. Unfortunately, Tenten has no idea about how closely she's being watched - and that will be a problem for her in the future.
> 
> Notes from the chapter: The idea for the ShoKo-tai comes from, believe it or not, SpecForce regiments from Star Wars. ShoKo-tai are basically Pathfinders and Wilderness Fighters combined, with a dash of shinobi seasoning.
> 
> The Color Wheel has also been updated, with a oneshot featuring Yoshino and Tenten. Go check it out!
> 
> Next update: No promises, but I'm aiming for late February/early March!

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins.


End file.
